Harry Potter and the Aftermath of Tomorrow
by cosmic-cube-keeper
Summary: Over 60 years after the events of "Canadian Intervention", Harry executes a bold plan to return to his younger self, and set things right, for his victory over Voldemort had cost him everything...
1. Dark Present

_**D I S C L A I M E R**_

_This is a work of fiction. Names, character, places and incidents either are products of the author's imagination or a used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead is entirely coincidental. This is a work of parody, as defined by the Fair Use Doctrine. Any similarities, without satirical intent, to copyrighted characters, or individuals living or dead, are purely coincidental. _

_This work has not been endorsed by J.K. Rowling, Raincoast Books, Scholastic Books, Warner Brothers, or any of the other holding copyright or license to the Harry Potter books or movies. No connection is implied or should be inferred._

_This work has not been endorsed by the estate of C.S. Lewis, Harper Collins Publishing, Walt Disney, Walden Media, or any other holding copyright or license to the "Chronicles of Narnia" works or movies. No connection is implied or should be inferred._

_This is not a commercial work. The authors receive no financial gain from its production or distribution. It is available without charge._

_AUTHOR'S NOTE: This story will for the most part disregard Half Blood Prince and Deathly Hallows (I haven't read DH yet, waiting for the soft-cover version. However, I do have an idea of some things that occurred. At any rate, as said, this story will disregard most of its events). Caution, there may be a little OOC'ness (or maybe a lot, roll with it, Ok?)_

_Now… with adding a second universe, I must also post a spoiler warning for "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian". It will also involve some characters from the previous book (and one of my all-time favourites), "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe"… and there may be spoilers involved there too. Have I warned you enough? The OOC warning stands here, too._

_**I will also warn people… there is SLASH in this story (although, if you have already read "Canadian Intervention", you know that already). Yes, boy-on-boy, wand-on-wand, people. IF YOU ARE OFFENDED BY SUCH MATERIAL, CLICK THE 'BACK' BUTTON NOW.**_

_Still with me? Great… without further adieu, I present, "HARRY POTTER AND THE AFTERMATH OF TOMORROW"_

* * *

**1: DARK PRESENT**

June 24, 2067

Harry Potter stood over the prone figure in the ruined courtyard of what had been Hogwarts. The castle had been reduced to piles of rubble years before, although Harry had used some of the lower areas that were still intact. For now, he held his attention on the man who still referred to himself as Lord Voldemort.

"Well, are you just going to stand there, or are you going to finish what you started, Potter?" said Voldemort. Harry only glared back, his emerald eyes still blazing bright as ever, partially obscured by the tangle of matted greying hair that hung down across his face. In his hand he held a broadsword. It had been a gift from a friend in a land he could never return to. On the hilt was an engraving of a lion. It was rather ironic, considering the house Harry had been sorted into so many years before. The lion on the sword was a symbol of something different.

"This is for Ron and Hermione," said Harry, and plunged the sword into Voldemort's chest, eliciting a grunt from the Dark Lord. He drew it out.

"And this is for Frankie!" Harry snarled, and jabbed it into his chest again, this time without a sound.

"You took everything from me, Tom," said Harry. "My friends, my partner. But you failed. Because I still have the things you CAN'T take away from me. I have love, I know the value of friendship, and, most importantly, I know what compassion means… and I truly feel sorry for you. I do hope your next great adventure is better than this life has been." Voldemort tried to form words, but his lungs were rapidly filling with fluid, his energy leaving him. Harry sat down on a piece of stone work and waited, while the life slowly bled out of the Dark Lord. No, he wouldn't just walk away, he would watch every second, to be absolutely sure. He had been fooled before, and there would be no fooling this time.

When the body at last went limp, Harry once again drew the sword and brought it down with all his strength, severing the head from the body. It was a messy job, but it was insurance. Finally, he re-sheathed the sword and drew his Elder wand. He so much missed being able to easily cast magic. Even simple charms nowadays took tremendous amounts of energy. It was like he was 5 or 6 years old again, magically speaking, with an undeveloped core. He focused carefully on the body, gesturing with the wand, and said, "Incendio."

He instantly felt weakened immensely as Voldemort's body burst into flames. He stumbled away as the stench of burning flesh filled the air. He again sat on the stone, pulling out a restorative draught, something he had great reserves of. Just casting the simplest of spells drained him. Casting something advanced, such as a Patronus, was virtually out of the question. In fact, as far as he knew, the killing curse had not been cast in over 30 years.

Hermione had been the one to understand what was happening. He remembered that discussion quite clearly, nearly twelve years ago. In a nutshell, she said, magic was dying. The earth's natural energy, or latent magic, had been disturbed and dissipated during the nuclear war that enveloped the planet. Without that latent magical energy around, witches and wizards began to find it harder to cast magic. Now, it was getting near impossible. Even apparating was becoming extremely taxing, which was the next issue on Harry's agenda.

Harry plopped down in a seat in the common room, completely exhausted.

"Well, is he gone?" Harry looked up to see his mother and father looking down at him from the portrait above the fireplace.

"He's gone, dad," answered Harry. "I-I-I killed him. I stood there and watched the life drain out of him." The distress was evident in his voice.

"Son, you must not feel sorry for him, he did horrible things," said James.

"But that's just it, dad, I DO feel sorry for him."

"And that's what makes you a better person than he was, Harry," said Sirius, from his portrait. "The world has a chance to recover…"

"Recover? Bloody hell, there's nothing to recover FROM, Padfoot! Everything that I had, every SINGLE person I really cared about, GONE!" He produced yet another restorative draught and drained it. "Is Dumbledore around?"

"I think he's in the portrait in the library, dear," said Lily.

Coming to an understanding between himself and the former headmaster happened only after the old man had died, ironically so, stepping in front of a killing curse meant for Harry. With that act, he somewhat redeemed himself, and with Minerva's prodding, Harry added a portrait to the trunk, so that Albus could continue to offer advice.

"And how did Sir Potter make out?" asked Albus. His portrait had been set up above the large computer workstation on the left side of the library.

"Albus, I haven't been known as that since… since Cair Paravel," Harry answered, looking down at the sword that was strapped to his side. "I would return there if I could, at least I would still have friends." He plopped down into the chair at the desk, practically at a loss as to what to do next.

He had finally fulfilled the prophecy, but what was there left to live for? Really and truly, anything that gave him any kind of joy had been ripped away from him. Voldemort had held true to his promise, ensuring that the Boy-Who-Lived was truly left with nothing. Even the world itself was in a shattered state.

What would happen, now that Voldemort was gone? There lay another issue. There had been a 'coalition' formed, of former countries who banded together to battle the renegade states and territories that continued to wage war and stop the world from recovering. Forces from Canada, the United States, and Britain formed the initial coalition, with numerous other countries joining over the next few years.

He smiled as he remembered the great fleet of fighting ships that the coalition, or later named United Commonwealth of Nations, had built. They had been truly formidable fighting platforms, which had reigned over the skies and oceans for nearly 20 years. If only they had had those in the beginning… perhaps the horrors that followed would never have happened.

Then, a devious smile crept onto Harry's face. It was one Albus had seen far too many times, and it always meant he was hatching some sort of outrageous plan that had no chance in hell in actually working… and yet somehow would work EXACTLY as he planned.

"The Invincible… we left it behind, but it should still be intact," said Harry.

"And why would you want to do that?" asked Cedric, from his portrait. Lily and James had moved into their portrait above the workstation, as had Sirius.

"More like, what if my past self could use it? The mapping technology, not to mention the fact she did have teeth. Remember how we blew up Riddle Manor with the UCS Victory?"

"That's most disturbing, Harry," said Albus. "I need not warn you, you know that already, messing about with time is a dangerous thing to do."

"Yet, what am I to do here? Sit around on my arse, grow old, and die lonely? I said before, there's nothing left for me here. Now, I'm going to do this, with or without your help. I mean, it would be easier WITH."

"One issue, Harry," said Sirius. "How in Merlin's name do you intend on casting a spell powerful enough?"

"I don't think it will matter, Sirius," said Albus, "The spell will most likely take Harry's life."

"What if it fails, sweetheart?" asked Lily.

"Mum, I really don't care. If this kills me, then I get to be with you guys and Frankie again. If I succeed, I have the chance to end things long before they get to this point," answered Harry.

oOo

It took nearly a month of calculations, even with the massive computer system in the trunk. Most of it had come from salvaging pieces from the MCS Victory, after her spectacular crash in 2052. Even Harry was in the dark about exactly what had happened to cause the great ship to crash as she had. Either way, much of the equipment had been salvaged, including her core, and that had been moved into the trunk. Cedric had managed to imprint himself into the computer system shortly thereafter, and proved an incredible team, being able to search out data and information at an incredible speed. If he were successful, Harry would be sure to help Cedric do it again, this time much sooner.

Back to the task at hand, Harry, at last, had the final formula he required printed out on computer paper. He was still able to duplicate a box of paper as needed, although it was still draining. How he longed to be able to cast magic easily again! He stared at the paper, along with the description of his activities nearly 65 years into the past. Beside that, he also had a brief list of things to take care of.

At the top of the list was to deal with the Horcruxes. He already knew about two of them, considering that both were in his possession at the time he would be returning. He also knew that he would need basilisk venom… which meant a trip into the Chamber of Secrets. That was nothing new, since he had used the chamber numerous times over the years, even after the castle had been destroyed. It was in the last few years that the chamber itself had filled with water, making it unusable.

The next item on the list was the UCS Invincible. As he had said to Albus over a month prior, the magical cannon on her underside could bust through just about anything with raw, brute force. There was no ward or protection that could withstand the powerful blue beam that it could unleash. That included the Fidelius charm, as Voldemort had found out.

That led to the next item: the place called Narnia. Or, more specifically, Cair Paravel. They had never attempted to return there, as much as several of the 'trunk group' wanted to. Albus had compared it to the Mirror of Erised, saying that there was no use spending time there, with far more pressing issues awaiting in their own world. Of course, Albus was absolutely right, but that had not stopped Harry from carefully recording the destination from the 'jump' computer, or rather, the computer responsible for teleporting the ship. It appeared as though an extra value had somehow been added to the runic formula used.

Now, he carefully committed that formula to memory; it would be needed when he merged with his past self. Hermione and Luna would be able to help set up the portal. Bloody hell, he badly missed the automated systems the UCS Victory had!

Finally on the list, to deal with Voldemort. Do it as quickly as possible. Once the Horcruxes were all destroyed, of course, but not delay any longer than necessary. One of his actions had resulted in World War Three, which virtually destroyed most population centres on the planet. Of course, that had not happened until 2009, but it was best not to leave anything to chance. He knew the players, he knew the game, why mess around?

The last thing on the list was Frankie. He realized that he had never told him often enough how much the man meant to him. He made a promise to himself that, every day, he would tell Frankie he loved him. More importantly, he wouldn't wait 'until the war was over' to actually propose. There were many times he almost had, but yet, something always seemed to crop up at just that time, drawing their attention away. In the end, he was left with the dog tags he had chosen to be his emergency port key, an empty bed, and only memories. Voldemort had attacked him so viciously that there was nothing left to bury.

As he thought about things, there were so many issues… so many things to prevent from happening, and so many things to ensure happened second time around. That's where he stopped. He realized he could spend days on end rehashing the events of the past 60 years. That would do nothing to change anything.

"I think I'm ready, Albus," Harry declared, standing. "Merlin, I so much wish Hermione or Luna were here, they were much better at this than I am."

"Indeed they were, Harry. Just take your time," said Albus. Harry began to trace out a series of runes surrounding a large circle that he had drawn on the floor with a piece of chalk. Each one he drew, he could feel a little bit of magic leave him. In fact, he ended up having to stop half-way through and munch on a chocolate bar. He also downed a restorative draught for good measure.

Quickly, he resumed drawing the runes, at last completing the circle about a half-hour later. He had to take another restorative draught before he could continue.

"Good luck, Harry," said Cedric.

"Indeed, good luck, son," said James.

"Safe travels, dear," said Lily.

"Hope it works, pup," said Sirius.

"Best of luck, Harry, although, should this fail, you will only start on the next great adventure, and we'll meet you on the other side," said Albus.

"Thanks, guys," said Harry, steeling himself against the emotions that threatened to overrun him. Now was not the time to get all mushy and misty-eyed. He was far too old for that, after all. He stepped into the circle, then began weaving a complex pattern with the Elder wand (the only wand that now responded with any real strength at all), causing all the runic symbols around the circle to glow blue. At last he cried, "MENS MENTIS PORTUS!" and was swallowed by a tremendous flash of light.

* * *

_**CHAPTER NOTES**__: Gonna keep this rather brief, considering the lengthy disclaimer/introduction. I paint a rather desolate picture here, and of course introduce a few things that I will most certainly touch on later in the story. So questions right off about some things, I probably won't answer, as that will spoil the story, right?_

_Thanks to **haushinka77**, who is continuing to be my beta for this story, it is much appreciated._

_Anyway, let me know what you think._


	2. Present Self, Past Self

_**Note**: Once again, this is a sequel to "Harry Potter and the Canadian Intervention". If you have not read that one, you won't get many of the things covered in this story. Oh yeah, SLASH warning as well._

**2: PRESENT SELF, PAST SELF**

November 5, 2007

Angela Simpson, Canadian Minister of Magic, was not looking forward to the conversation that she was about to have. She had, on numerous occasions, met with Stephen Fedders, the muggle Prime Minister, and so had a good working relationship with him. So, most certainly, she did not like the idea of delivering such unnerving news.

The Prime Minister had actually taken it well the night he had moved into his office at Centre Block of Parliament in Ottawa. As was the custom, the night that the incoming Prime Minister occupied his office and was alone, he or she would receive a phone call from the Ministry, informing him of an imminent visit from the Minister of Magic.

Stephen had actually thought it as a joke, as did most, yet the joke ended when Angela and two Aurors stepped out of the fireplace, the flames having roared green. After the initial shock wore off, the two leaders actually hit it off, Stephen being amazed at the hidden world right under his nose.

In the year that Stephen had been in office, he had formed an excellent working relationship with his magical counterpart, even suggesting that the head of the RCMP be brought into the loop, since there were some cases that were downright baffling, and, just perhaps, the magical community might have some insight.

Now, the question was this: how would he react to this most disturbing news from across the pond?

"Good evening, Angela," said Stephen, looking up from his desk, as she quickly dusted herself off. She came alone, as she had long since abandoned the need to bring along Aurors.

"I wish it was, Stephen," said Angela. "I'm afraid I have some rather disturbing news from across the pond."

"Would it have anything to do with the terrorist attack in London Wednesday?"

"I'm afraid it does," answered Angela.

"May I get you anything… tea?"

"Allow me," said Angela, quickly conjuring up a tea service. "It was most certainly a terrorist act on Wednesday, however, it was a group of wizards. You do remember our discussion about a wizard that goes by 'Lord Voldemort'?"

"Of course."

"I'm afraid it was his forces, Death Eaters, who unleashed the attack on the Earls Court Exhibition Centre. The British Ministry of Magic was able to arrest perhaps twelve individuals, however, most were able to escape. This is a most distressing shift in the direction Voldemort is taking, as it looks like he will be directly targeting muggle interests. I must warn you, it is more than likely that he will turn his attention here at some point."

"But what can WE do? You've explained it many times, Angela, they can use magic. People like me cannot, so how do you expect us to prepare for something we can't POSSIBLY defend against?"

"Regretfully, I don't have an answer to that. According to wizard law, it is my duty to explain the situation to the muggle Prime Minister, which is you. As far as what I can tell you, let us know if there is something unusual going on. That's the best suggestion. Your liaison from the RCMP is the best connection. The safety of all Canadians is truly in both our courts, against this very real threat."

"So it is, so it is," Stephen sighed, sipping his tea.

"The best I can tell you is that we are in much better shape, defence-wise, than our British counterpart. Cornelius Fudge is absolutely useless as a minister, continuously stymieing attempts to bolster the Auror numbers and properly ready itself for the oncoming fight. We, on the other hand, have been preparing since June, when we were aware of the circumstances in England. The head of DMLE has been adding Aurors as quickly as we can get them trained, and some of those more senior staff are being promoted into our SAU."

"SAU?"

"Special Action Unit, something like a police SWAT team."

"Ah." Stephen thought for a moment. "Does your community have an army?"

"No, we don't. However, the SAU is more than capable, being trained in both magical and muggle weapons. If anything, they are our soldiers. Unfortunately, they won't have much effect on Voldemort."

"Yes, right… the Potter boy, and some prophecy."

"Indeed. Although, by no means is he a boy. I've had the privilege of speaking with him on a few occasions. He's actually a bright young wizard, I see him having a profound effect on the wizard world at large some day. It is hoped he will help reshape magical Britain, and put an end to the 'dark lord' breeding ground it seems to have become."

"This has happened before?"

"Indeed it has. The last dark wizard in Britain was Gellert Grindelwald. He actually had a hand in the Second World War, aligning himself with Hitler. If not for Albus Dumbledore, this world would likely have been a much different place."

"It would have, had Hitler truly accomplished what he set out to do," Stephen agreed, as he finished his tea.

"By any rate, I felt it was important you were aware of exactly what was going on. Of course I will keep you updated if things change."

"Are we still on for dinner Friday?"

"Of course." Angela again drew her wand and banished the tea set. "I'll meet you here at 8 o'clock, then." She stepped into the fireplace, having activated it with a hand full of floo powder that she had brought with her.

"Until then."

"Do take care. MINISTRY OF MAGIC, MINISTER'S OFFICE!" Angela vanished in the green flames.

oOo

The days following the attack at the concert on October 31 had been difficult for Harry. Even sitting down with mind healer Joyce Kelly had really not relieved the raw pain he still felt.

On this particular night, he sat at the top of the astronomy tower at Hogwarts, gazing up at the night sky. He had taken to spending time alone as he tried to sort out his thoughts. This had become his favourite spot, even though Deric stood just inside the door. Remus had insisted he have someone near by, and Deric was a natural choice.

Today, he had attended yet another funeral, as the Weasleys laid to rest their eldest son. It hit Harry particularly hard, since he was so close to the Weasleys. He had seen Bill as a big brother, and, to a lesser extent, saw that of Charlie and the twins.

Arthur and Molly had insisted that he be buried in the cemetery at Ottery St. Catchpole, alongside his brother Percy. It was a small affair, as the Order had decided that it would be too risky, and too tempting a target, should a large group go to the cemetery.

Harry, of course, had insisted on going, even though they had held a memorial service for him in the trunk. Madam Pomfrey had surrendered the Room of Requirement, now that Tonks and Remus were well enough to leave hospital care. So, it had been converted into a small chapel.

Now, he just stared absently up at the sky, running the events of almost a week prior over in his head. Was there something he could have done differently? That was the single question that kept coming back to him.

Suddenly, the air seemed to crackle with energy, making the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. It was exactly like the build-up before an intense thunderstorm. Yet, there wasn't a cloud in the sky.

"Harry? What is it?" asked Deric.

"I don't know!" exclaimed Harry. It got even more intense as arcs of electricity began to spark from the metal hardware, and even the stonework itself. The last thing Harry remembered, before his world faded to black, was hearing a tremendous CRACK.

oOo

Harry was literally assaulted with a flood of memories that couldn't possibly be his own. It culminated with a circle drawn on a floor, and an incantation. He finally found himself, once again, in his subconscious. This time, however, not only was his subconscious copy there, he also found an older man that looked like him.

"You're… me," said Harry.

"Yes," answered the older man. "60 years older, actually."

"But… how? And, more importantly, why?"

"You tell me," said his older self, gesturing with his hand. Harry winced as he saw the terrible image of Frank being murdered by Voldemort.

"Merlin…"

"How about this one?" said his older self, again gesturing with his hand. The next vision, Harry watched, horrified, as Hogwarts was ripped apart.

"But…"

"Or this one…" Harry was again floored, as this vision was identical to a dream he had months before.

"That… that really happened."

"Oh yes, it did, indeed. No population centre over 5000 people was left standing. Now do you wonder why I'm inside your head?"

"I… but no, this is wrong! Remember what Hermione…"

"What's wrong about having a second chance? We… you… have a chance to prevent all this dragon shit from happening. Tell me I've made the right choice in coming back."

"Choice? I guess I really don't have much of one, do I? What happens now?"

"Nothing really. When you wake up, everything will be sorted for the most part. Your subconscious self and I will merge. Then it will be up to you, based on the memories I've already given you."

"What if I make things worse?"

"Harry, we can't POSSIBLY make things much worse than they were. The one final thing I must tell you, or ask of you, rather. Promise me this. That you will tell Frankie, every day, how much you love him. I didn't, and ended up regretting it." Harry nodded. "One more thing. Talk to Albus. As much trouble as he is, he's still a great man. It took his death for me to realize that."

"I don't know if I can…"

"Harry, look…" his older self made another gesture with his hand. This gave Harry a vision of Albus jumping in the way of a green bolt of magic, which had been cast from the wand of Peter Pettigrew.

"Merlin, the man DOES care," Harry said, his voice trailing to a whisper.

"His intentions are good, only…"

"His execution is flawed," Harry finished.

"Albus helped me with many of the calculations that got me here."

Harry spent what seemed like hours sorting through the deluge of memories that his older self had shared. Many of them made him almost sick with the horrific details that they contained. Others made him smile, although those were few and far between. How had he survived as long as he did without taking his own life?

oOo

He groaned as he woke up. 'What else is new, I'm in the hospital… again,' thought Harry.

"Twice in a week, Mr. Potter, I have to wonder if you have a strange affinity for this place," said Madam Pomfrey.

"I don't PLAN on being in here, you know," Harry snorted.

"Harry, you all right?" Harry turned to see Frank sitting in a seat beside the bed.

"I'm fine now."

"I'm still confused as to exactly what happened, Harry," said Deric, standing on the opposite side of the bed. "Do you know what it was?"

"Err... not really," answered Harry, making a decision on the spot to keep his encounter with his older self quiet, at least for now. "Madam Pomfrey… how long do I need to stay here?"

"I don't see you needing to stay, since everything appears to check out OK. Do let someone know at once, should that change."

"I'll make sure he does," said Frank.

"I… I missed you so much," Harry began as they walked toward the guest quarters. Frank looked at him strangely.

"Harry, we saw each other yesterday…"

"I mean… err… well, it was strange… without you last night," Harry quickly back-peddled. That made Deric chuckle, although he also filed that away for later.

"You sure you're OK?"

"Frankie, I'm fine," Harry reassured. A wave of immense joy ran through him, and he realized that it was a reaction from his future self, having been deprived of Frank's companionship for more than a few years. What would Frank think, once Harry revealed to him what had actually happened?

They walked the rest of the way to the guest quarters in silence, Harry still lost in thought. There was one thing that now stood out above everything else. He knew this was coming from his older self, since he had never heard of the term before: Horcruxes.

oOo

Returning to the trunk, it was still well before sunrise, being only five AM. Yet, there were already tons of things that were spinning around in his head. Although Occlumency helped out a great deal, it was far better to record things. So, Harry quickly entered his room and sat down in front of the computer (Everyone had gotten one mid-September, as it just made things so much easier), while Frank stretched out on the bed, seeming more than happy to get some extra rest.

Several hours later, Harry was looking at a very lengthy list of key things that needed to be taken care of. Unknowingly, it was the same list that his future self had compiled before making the great jump back in time. He quickly printed out the first few pages of it, detailing the first major step: the Horcruxes.

That introduced the next problem: Basilisk venom. He would need to revisit the Chamber of Secrets. Surely no one would sanction such a venture, right? Then again, ingredients from a Basilisk could fetch a fortune… and a certain former potions professor might appreciate it.

"Harry, you realize you could easily make a fortune harvesting a Basilisk, do you not?" said Severus. It was just after lunch time, or dinner, Hogwarts time. Harry had tracked Severus down to his office, which was still in the dungeons.

"I know, Severus, but, I do actually need several fangs…"

"And what on earth would you need with those? You do know how lethal…"

"You don't need to remind me," said Harry. "I almost died in second year, remember?"

Severus only nodded, but said, "You still haven't explained to me what you need with them."

"Just… it's better you don't know… plausible deniability."

"Look. Pott… Harry. You will have to be more specific than that, just handling one of those…"

"It concerns Voldemort," said Harry testily. "I know why he came back two years ago."

"Indeed."

"I don't think it's a good idea you know any more than that, if he somehow…"

"Indeed," Severus said again. "I think you've said more than enough yourself. Very well, I shall assist you with your harvest."

The Chamber was every bit as eerie as Harry remembered it had been four years earlier, with the added powerful smell of decomposition. Surprisingly, the snake was still relatively intact, even though it had been dead all that time. Harry quickly pulled a large pair of muggle pliers from his satchel and went to work wrenching several teeth from the monster's jaws, careful not to let any fluids splatter on his skin. He wasn't certain if the venom could be absorbed by the skin or not, and so was extra cautious. Better safe than sorry, so the motto went. He had brought an air-tight container, which he then un-shrunk and placed six fangs into. He sealed it up tight, and then shrunk it once again, sticking it back into his satchel.

"I've got what I need, professor," Harry announced. "Is there anything I can help with?"

Several hours later, Harry returned to the trunk. He had agreed to split the profit with Severus, allowing the potions professor to handle the sale. If there was one thing about Severus, it was that he was honest.

He quickly collected the two artifacts he now knew were Horcruxes and carried both into his room. 'No sense in doing this in front of anyone', he thought. Luckily, Frank was elsewhere, most likely spending time with Chester and the rest of the band; they were still hurting emotionally with the loss of Adam.

'All right, what now?' he thought.

"Pick one of them," came the answer from his older self. Harry quickly chose the locket.

"You have to command it to open in parseltongue. When it does, the soul fragment will try to possess you. I fought with it for several hours. So be ready to strike it as soon as it opens," his older self explained.

"Right," said Harry, carefully sliding one of the fangs out of the re-enlarged container. "Here goes…" He counted silently in his head, and then hissed, "Open."

The locket sprung open, revealing two eyes, one in each little window of the locket, glaring around at Harry. Harry, however, did not hesitate, and jabbed the Basilisk fang into one of the eyes. A horrible scream let from the locket, causing Harry to jump back in surprise. He expected some apparition to fly out of it; perhaps identical to how Tom had come to life from the journal in second year. He realized very quickly, and with great relief, that that was not about to happen. All that remained was a smoking, broken locket.

"Harry? Everything all right?" came the voice of Deric, knocking on the door.

"I'm fine."

"What was that scream? It sounded like someone was being murdered."

"Err… well…" The door burst open, and Deric stepped into the room, wand at the ready. "Harry, what was it?"

"It's fine, tell him," said his older self.

"Do you know what a Horcrux is?"

"Jesus Christ! Who… how…" Deric was at a loss for words.

"This was one of Voldemort's," said Harry. "I can't tell you how I know, but I just do. And so is this." Harry pointed to the cup that had been sitting on the fireplace mantle for several weeks.

"Harry? What's going on?" asked Frank, also stepping into the room.

"Killing pieces of Voldemort's soul," answered Harry, in a very matter-of-fact manner. He pushed the locket aside, and then placed the cup in its place. "Look out, this will do the same thing." He simply dragged one of the fangs around the inside of the cup, allowing a dribble of venom to spill onto the surface. Exactly as expected, it let out a horrible cry, and black smoke began to pour off it.

"You mean a piece of Voldemort's soul was in there? And it sat in the common room all this time?" Deric exclaimed.

"I know, I was rather shocked, too."

"Harry, how many does he have?"

"Seven."

"Do you know where the rest of them are?"

"Yes and no. I know that one of them is still in the Room of Requirement at Hogwarts, and another is hidden close to Riddle Manor. The others, I don't know," answered Harry. Actually, Harry knew EXACTLY where the other two pieces were, but didn't want to worry Frank.

"So you have to get rid of these 'things' before you can kill Voldemort," Frank surmised.

"That's exactly it," answered Harry, staring at the two items. The cup, by the looks of it, was still intact. The locket, was a write-off. He already knew what each of them were. The cup was, in fact, an artifact from Helga Hufflepuff, one of the four founders of Hogwarts. Perhaps the school would like to have it back, now that it was no longer a vessel for a dark wizard's soul fragment. Or maybe not. Perhaps, now, it was tainted, and would serve no good purpose put on display.

"Debating what to do with them, Harry?" asked Frank. Harry only nodded. "I would put it back out where it was. A reminder of a small victory, I think," Frank suggested.

"I like that." Harry smiled. "I like that a lot. It'll be one of the last things I will 'show' the bastard before I finally kill him."

"Everything okay?" asked Travis, sticking his head in the door.

"About to celebrate a small victory against Voldemort," Deric supplied.

"Oh really? Love to hear that one," Travis snorted.

"No one else can know. You three are enough," said Harry. "Travis, what do you know about Horcruxes?"

"He didn't."

"He did," said Harry, gesturing to the two objects that lay on the desk. "I'm putting the cup back out on the mantle, since it's still intact. Just as a little reminder, a trophy, I guess."

"So we not only have to kill him once, but multiple times. Fucking hell!" Travis growled.

"And we'll do it. I'll do it as many times as I have to, until he is gone for good," Harry vowed.

That night, Harry once again spoke at length with his older self, via his unconscious mind.

"You've accomplished more in a day than I did over ten years," said his older self.

"But you already know where everything is. You just have to point me to where they are."

"The one issue, though, is the one Horcrux that lies in your scar."

"How did you remove it?"

"Remember at the beginning of the summer, sitting by the fire at Travis' house?"

"I tried to… wait, what if it…"

"Harry, I've already done that. It was long after Frankie was gone, but Hermione… you know she's a smart witch… she finally came to the conclusion, about five years before my final clash with Voldemort. I asked her to cast the A/K on me, but, of course, she wouldn't. So I did it myself. Use your holly wand, though, as the Elder wand will not work in an attempt to harm its master… us, in that case."

"Right," said Harry. "I'm just not… exactly comfortable with… trying something like that… I mean…"

"I told you, I've done it already. You have to trust me… I am YOU, Harry."

"Can't you just completely, err… integrate yourself with my mind?"

"If that's what you want."

"I think so… so I'm not second-guessing myself, and asking stupid questions."

The next thing he remembered, he was again standing on the beach, looking out at the wrecked MCS Invincible. She looked almost peaceful in the light of the evening. By the looks of things, the men had already left, and had sealed the boat up the best they could.

"This will be your last night in Narnia, Harry?" He found himself turning to face the speaker; it was the same young man he had seen not long before in his dreams.

"Yeah, I guess it is," he heard himself answer. He quickly realized that he was hearing his future self again. "King Peter, If I could, if I were a selfish man, I would say sod it, and stay."

"You and I both know that cannot be. This world is not for you, and, from what you tell me, there are those who need you back in your world," answered the King.

"So many have died… he said he would take everything from me, and even here, he's carrying out that promise."

"You blame yourself for what happened on your ship?"

"Of course I do!" his older self erupted, "We should have been more thorough with our background checks! Do you realize we found two more individuals who had been marked? Two more catastrophes waiting to happen! Bloody hell!"

"Sir? Everything all right?" a soldier strode over to the pair.

"Everything's fine," answered Harry.

"Sir. All birds are now secured; Victory and Surprise are now sealed and ready for departure."

"Very good, Lieutenant." He turned to face King Peter again. "Most likely we'll join you, your brother, and sisters for breakfast before we go. I will definitely miss the mock sword fights in the morning, though."

"I'm sure you will. You're a fast learner, Harry."

"I've had to be. I wish I could show you some of my memories… I mean, there was a time when I could have… but the dragon shit I've had to get through has forced me to learn fast. It was either that, or end up dead."

"So too, I had to learn fast while here. Before I set foot in Narnia, I had never swung a sword in my life. Yet, the people here expected me and my siblings to stand and fight against a witch! Harry, our lives are more parallel than you might think." He paused for a moment. "Enough talk about that. I do believe Lucy may like one last broom ride before you leave us."

"I think I can arrange that." Harry smiled.

Next thing, he found himself standing in some sort of great hall, amongst a large group of people and beast-folk. The centaur that he remembered named Oreius was there, along with two beavers. They stood close beside Lucy, the youngest of the 4 ruling monarchs of Narnia. Peter was speaking to Deric, while his brother, Edmund, was speaking to another man dressed the same way as Deric. 'Captain of the other boat', thought Harry.

"Do you think you will be returning one day, Mr. Potter?" Harry turned to see Lucy had walked up to him.

"I hope to," answered Harry. "The world I am returning to brings nothing but depression. Many places in my world, at one time, resembled this one. So, maybe, if and when I do what I must do, I hope to come back."

"That will strongly depend on whether Aslan allows it, young wizard," said Orieus.

"If you believe with all your heart, then one day, you will return, Mr. Potter," said Lucy, smiling. "Perhaps, then, if you and Mr. Cordell are not officially married, one of us might make it so."

Harry woke up with a start. "Bloody hell!"

"Harry?" Frank moaned, shifting so he was facing him.

"I'm fine."

"Come on, don't give me that," said Frank. "We've been sharing the same bed too long for me to let you get away with that phrase."

"I had a dream… it was just… well, rather startling," answered Harry.

"Well, what was it about?"

"I told you about the dreams I've been having lately…"

"Sure."

"I know where the place is… it's like a different dimension…"

"Like wizard space?"

"No, no, completely different. I mean, a completely different world, that you can't get to normally, anyway. It's called Narnia. These four kids… err… well, young adults, when I visited at any rate, they actually rule there…"

"Harry, are you sure you're all right?" That got a scowl from Harry.

"I swear on my magic. Look, the number of dreams I've had about this place now… and… oh, bloody hell!" A rush of images flooded into his head, including a very lengthy formula. "I have to get up."

"But, Harry, none of this shit's making any sense to me!"

"It will, I promise!" said Harry, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. "Merlin, I'll have to get Hermione's help… and Luna's…"

"…and a mind healer," said Frank. "Fuck, man, you're going off the deep end, I think."

"Frankie! I'm FINE!" Harry thought for a moment. "Shit, I'll need to use the computer in the library… runes and such…"

"Whatever." Frank was clearly not impressed with this strange behaviour on the part of his mate. Something had changed. He didn't know exactly what, but this Harry was just not the same young man from five days before.

* * *

_**AUTHOR NOTES**__: So… has Harry jumped off the deep end? (author cackles insanely…) Of course not. But think about it, he has over 60 years of memories in his head now, and so is working with a future he would rather avoid. So of course, he's going to appear a little off-the-wall now and then._

_Will people figure things out? Absolutely. How long do you think it will take for Hermione to figure it out? Travis? Frankie? Hermione more than anything, though._


	3. November Projects

_**CAUTION**__: Huge spoiler warning for "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe", violence, coarse language, slash/fluff_

_

* * *

_**3: NOVEMBER PROJECTS**

"Harry, where did you get this?" Hermione prodded, looking over the lengthy runic formula he had passed to her. Harry had pulled her over to the computer, now at the point where he did need her help.

"You just have to trust me, for now," answered Harry. "It's something that I wish to keep secret."

"Harry, you hated people keeping secrets from you, think of how we feel."

"I know… it's just, look. If certain people knew what I know now…" He let out a sigh. "Things could get much worse than they are now."

"You have to tell me what this is; I can't help you otherwise. I mean, I have to understand what you're trying to do."

"Fine. It's the formula to a dimensional portal."

"HARRY! Are you mental? Do you know-"

"Hermione, I don't have time for your lectures right now, all I can tell you, is that there's something there WE need! There's a computer there that has information about the next 40 years, and then some… I mean, books and information about just about anything you can imagine stored in it," said Harry, appealing to her thirst for knowledge. It was bribery, but he wouldn't be doing this on his own.

"All right. But you better tell Remus about this, at least."

"I'm bringing Deric. I mean, the Order has other business and so on. And Hermione. Once you learn Occlumency, I will explain EVERYTHING to you."

"I'll hold you to that."

Very quickly, Hermione drew Luna onto the project, as she quickly realized just how complex it was. Along with the computer system, they also occupied about a fourth of the conference table. With that much going on, it was hard for others not to notice.

"My, my, Prongslet, that's quite the production you're running," James commented.

"Top secret, dad," answered Harry, looking up from an astronomy text book.

"And it won't stay that way long, dear," said Lily. "Why not set things up in the Room of Requirement?"

"We need access to the computer," answered Hermione. "I haven't seen many equations as complicated as this one." It was then Remus stepped into the room.

"What's all this about?" He gestured to the materials scattered on the table.

"Maybe we BETTER take this into the Room of Requirement," Harry decided, gesturing with his wand. The books and papers quickly stacked themselves neatly. "Remus, if you want to find out, follow us."

After setting up the room, they stepped in, finding a large studio, including a computer identical to the one in the library. Harry quickly explained the situation to Remus.

"Harry, both Deric and Frank have mentioned you seem a bit off, now I understand where they are coming from. Do you realize exactly what you're proposing?" asked the werewolf.

"What would you say if I told you that I knew of someone who already did it?"

"I would be even more concerned."

"They gave me the formula. I won't be going alone, I mean, the items we need… it won't be easy to retrieve. But once we do, one of the items will provide the return trip home. Thing is, I'll need help. I plan on asking Deric to come with me, at a minimum, but…"

"Harry, I can't even approve the NOTION of what you are trying to do… if something were to happen…"

"Fine. Hermione and Luna, could you guys wait outside?"

"What for?" asked Remus.

"You can protect your mind, right?"

"Being a werewolf, that sort of thing is a built-in feature, one of the few good side effects… what for?"

"Good. I can explain some things in detail. If that will help you to understand why I must do this," Harry answered. Remus nodded, and both Luna and Hermione left the room. Harry cast a locking charm on the doors, then a privacy charm around him and Remus.

"It's that serious?"

"It is," answered Harry, and then began to detail the future of the world, from the eyes of his much older self. Remus was held in shock for most of the explanation, as brief as it was. Harry wasn't about to go into every little detail; he only covered the bare essentials, enough to get Remus to understand where he was coming from.

"Harry, this still sounds absolutely ludicrous. You want to forcibly open a portal into another world, to retrieve something your future self left there, hoping that said item is still intact and usable, 20 years AFTER the fact? Even though you have now travelled back… Merlin's balls, Harry!" Remus exclaimed, sounding exasperated. He sat quietly for several minutes, trying to process the insane idea Harry was presenting him with. "Maybe… although I don't know if you will like this… maybe we should talk to Albus about this."

"Remus, Albus helped solve the reason why it happened in the first place," Harry answered.

"In the future…"

"What DIFFERENCE does it make? Besides, I'm not ready to make nice with the professor just yet, as it is," said Harry coldly.

"If you do this… take a trunk with you… maybe borrow Fred's." Remus knew that there was no sense in fighting Harry on the issue any further. The boy—or young man- was bound and determined to do it.

"I plan on creating a teleport pad, then taking it with me. The trunks worked exactly the way you're suggesting. In fact, there were portals aboard all three ships into the trunk here. And, while I'm thinking of that… we have to redesign the teleport pad, I think."

"How so?"

"Well, we have a few of those things as is… and it's only going to grow… the way my future self had it set up, was something like an elevator."

"It could work that way."

"Something to work at later. Right now, this is my focus."

"What kind of advantage will this boat or ship give us?"

"Number one, we can create a map much like the Canadian Ministry of Magic has, in England. We can then track the use of port keys and apparation. More importantly, we can directly attack Voldemort's hideout, with minimal risk to ourselves."

"One more question, Harry. Where exactly did you plan on actually executing this?"

"Right here, in this room," answered Harry.

"I will help you with this, but I will expect you to at a minimum, take Deric along."

"I planned on it, as I said. As friendly as King Peter and his siblings were, 20 years can make a world of difference. Bloody hell, for all I know, we could end up 60 years behind, and the Invincible won't be there. If that happens, I'll use my emergency port key, and well… I just hope that's NOT what we find."

"Indeed, it could be worse than that, Harry. Time is not something to trifle with, in any way, shape or form."

"So Hermione has told me already."

"Shall we let Miss Granger and Miss Lovegood back in, then?"

As he ate dinner silently, alone in the dining room, he ran over the dominant idea in his head. What he had said to Remus earlier weighed heavily on his mind. Truly, they could very easily end up 40 years into the past in Narnia, rather than 20 years into the future. That would mean no Invincible, and more concerning, that would mean the White Witch would have the world in her icy grasp.

Peter had told him all about her, and how she had almost killed him and his siblings. He had described the great battle at which they had defeated the White Witch, and freed the land from perpetual 'winter with no Christmas'.(1) He also told of a talking lion named Aslan, who was the true ruler of Narnia, from whom Peter and his siblings vested their authority as kings and queens. Of course, Harry had seen talking animals in Narnia, so this was by no means far fetched. Some part of him actually wished that he could have seen the magnificent lion. That same part of him hoped that just maybe, this time around, he would.

"Holy fuck, man, you ARE in worse shape than I am." Travis' icy voice snapped Harry out of his thoughts.

"What?"

"You didn't hear a word I just said, did you?"

"S-s-sorry, no I didn't. I was just… thinking. What was it?"

"Right… no, I'm not gonna bother…"

"I'm sorry, mate, I've just got a lot on my mind…"

"Like others don't?" Travis snorted. "You're not the only one that's got problems, holy fuck!"

"Hey, I'm not the one that came in here all stirred up! Don't BLOODY start with me, Carter, I don't need your dragon shit right now!"

"F-f-fuck you, Potter!"

"You want a pissing contest, that's fine with me! Fuck you too," Harry hissed, pushing back from the table roughly. Travis had already produced his wand, and only naturally, Harry matched him. In an instant, the curses were flying, fast and furious.

"What in blazes is going on?" Severus had to duck as a red burst of magic just barely missed his head.

"Severus?" asked Moody, also looking into the dining room.

"Harry! Travis! Stop it! Stop this at once!" Lisa cried, also shocked at what was going on. The dining room looked more like a war zone at this point, with everything having been blasted to bits from the destructive magic being cast. The older wizards, quickly understanding what was going on, only stood back and allowed the destruction to continue.

"REDUCTO!" Travis shouted.

"PROTEGO!" Harry countered, deflecting the spell up at the ceiling, smashing more plaster from it.

"CRUC…"

"EXPELLIARMUS!" Severus snapped, sending Travis' wand flying. "That will be quite enough, the BOTH of you," he said. Travis slumped against the wall, and slid to the floor, as the torrent of built up emotions finally broke loose. He had not meant to unload on Harry, yet, as raw as his emotions were, logic had not factored in the equation.

Harry understood EXACTLY what had just happened. Travis was not himself. He sat down beside him, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Mate, I know what you're going through."

"Harry…" Frank said, appearing in the doorway. He gasped. "What the fuck happened?"

"It's fine, Frankie. Travis, come on, we'll go to my room."

"And gentlemen, next time you decide to have a duel to the death, perhaps it might be more appropriate to do so in the Room of Requirement," said Moody.

"I'll try to remember that, Mad-Eye," said Harry, as he helped Travis back to his feet.

"Here," said Frank, passing Travis his wand.

"Thanks."

"Don't worry about the dining room, we'll clean it up after," said Harry.

"Harry… I… I… tried to curse you, why are you being so nice?" asked Travis, as they stepped into Harry's room.

"Because I know WHY you were going to do it. Look, mate, I know EXACTLY where you are at right now, I went half mental after Cedric was killed… No, listen to me. You can't keep that kind of stuff inside you… oh bloody hell, you KNOW that already, what did you say to me when we first met?" asked Harry. Travis gave a weak smile, understanding at once.

"I miss him so much," he managed.

"Look at me," said Harry. Travis looked up, and Harry embraced him in a tight hug. "It will get better, mate."

"So is there room for me in this, or am I a third wheel?" asked Frank.

"'Course there's room!" Harry reached out and pulled Frank into the embrace.

"Harry," said Frank, when they finally broke their embrace, "Travis could spend a few nights with us… I mean, there's room in the bed, right?"

"Yeah, we could do that, Merlin, I know how lonely it was, stuck back at Privet drive, having just lost Cedric," said Harry.

"But, I don't wanna drive a wedge between you guys… this shit tonight was just stupid, Jesus fuck, it was only because I was jealous and angry!"

"As if that changes anything. Travis, I know EXACTLY what it's like, mate. Spend a few nights with us for company."

"You know… Frank, when we met back in May… God, some part of me hoped that maybe… you know… just maybe I might have a chance…" Travis, Harry, and Frank had then settled for the night, after Harry and Travis put the dining room back together.

"Then I came along," said Harry.

"And you guys are awesome together," said Travis. "I was an asshole tonight… I'm sorry."

"You don't have to apologize, mate. I said it a million times already; I know how you're feeling." Harry rolled over so that he faced Travis. Frank also shifted and slung an arm over top of Harry.

"Guys. Promise me something," said Travis. "Don't wait. You love each other like crazy, God, it took me less than a day to spot the chemistry. So write it in stone, while you still have the chance." Harry could see he was fighting against the tears that threatened to fall. "Bill and I… I was just looking for a way to ask him… I…" Travis couldn't finish.

"I was thinking the same thing, you know," said Harry. "Merlin, the tables could have been reversed, and I mean, they almost were!"

"Yeah, I know," Travis managed. "Frank, next time Harry says to use your port key, don't wait. It cost us all so much… and it COULD have been much worse."

"I know. Harry already said that," said Frank.

"How… how are Chester and the others making out?"

"They're dealing with it. We're gonna meet with our tour manager possibly tomorrow… we may actually cancel the rest of the tour… I mean, Chester is convinced we're a target…"

"Frankie, you ARE a target, especially now… Voldemort kind of knows you're with us, and…"

"It paints a fat bull's eye on your chest," said Travis. He hesitated, but reached over, placing a hand on Frank's forearm. "Man, when you were hit with the Cruciatus curse… Jesus… after I was hit with it not long before…"

"It was like someone stabbed me in the heart," finished Harry. He had interlocked fingers with Frank.

"Yeah, that's about it," said Travis.

"Fuck, it felt like my body was on fire," said Frank.

"Neville's parents were driven insane by it," said Harry. "They're in Ward 49 at St. Mungo's."

"What's Ward 49?" asked Frank.

"A long-term care ward for witches and wizards who've been permanently affected by magic… such as the Longbottoms. Professor Lockhart is there as well, useless git he was," Harry snorted.

"But can't a mind healer fix it?" Frank was confused.

"No," answered Travis, "There are some things… um… well… many things, that magic can't fix. A person gone insane… I mean, there are some cases they can fix, but cases like the Longbottoms… no, they're so far damaged, they can't. It's a huge misconception muggles have about magic. It's not a fix-all kind of thing; there are limits."

"I kind of figured that… but, I mean, Dumbledore seems to be doing well… speaking to Miss Kelly and all…"

"Yes, but he wasn't too fucked up just yet. He could have easily gone that way though," said Travis.

"He's STILL mental in my opinion," Harry snorted.

"Harry… thing is, with the potions, and the visits from healer Kelly, he IS getting better. It won't be fair to keep him locked up," said Travis. Harry had to admit that Travis was right. With his future memories, Harry knew tht Dumbledore was important down the road in their fight against Voldemort. Yet, so much of him was still so angry with the old wizard, for how he was treated. 'Yet,' he thought to himself, 'a good man will let it go and move on.' "I guess you're right," Harry agreed. "Maybe it's time to have a talk with him."

As Harry once again slipped into his subconscious mind, he groaned, as he again found Voldemort there, pacing.

"Your defences have strengthened again, Potter," the Dark Lord deadpanned.

"Do you like them?" Harry slipped into a pleasant demeanour, knowing that it would further infuriate him.

"Rather impressive, considering you, as you claim, have done most of this yourself."

"All the better at keeping you out. One day, I promise, you won't even be able to come THIS far."

"Oh, I strongly doubt that, Potter," said Voldemort. "You and I are connected far beyond the simple use of magical barriers on your mind. So, if I deem it worth a visit, even if I can only get into the outer layers of your mind, then so be it."

"What do you want?"

"Only to applaud you on your rather surprising effort last week, I did not expect such a resistance."

"And we'll KEEP doing it, Tom. As long as I breathe, I will fight you and your friends… if that's what you call them."

"Yes, your friends fought alongside you quite admirably," said Voldemort. "…Even Mr. Cordell, attempting to stand up to me… he's either very bold, or very stupid… I, I would lean toward the latter…"

"Leave Frankie out of this!"

"Aaaah, the picture becomes a little clearer. My, my, Potter, you can do MUCH better than a muggle…"

"Shut up! He's a thousand times more of a man than you'll ever be! So just SHUT up!" Harry was seething at this point. The last thing he needed was for Voldemort to know about his relationship with Frank.

"You know, I will make sure his death is particularly painful, and you… will bear witness," Voldemort hissed, then faded out of his memory. It left Harry alone in his subconscious mind, in a rage. If Voldemort touched one HAIR on Frankie's head…

He then sighed, realizing that, if the Dark Lord really wanted to, there wouldn't be too much Harry could do. It all came down to rounding up the remainder of the Horcruxes, and meeting him in a final confrontation. That was the key. Knowing the future, knowing WHERE the Horcruxes were supposed to be, it made things easy, right? He could then call the shots, draw the Dark Lord out, and face him on his own terms, rather than playing catch-up, being caught unawares, as had been the case over the past few years.

It also meant that Harry had to be CAREFUL. One wrong move, and nothing he knew about the future would be valid. Then it would be back to square one, playing catch-up. He mentally kicked himself for revealing his feelings for Frankie to the Dark Lord. That was exactly the sort of thing that got people killed.

That drew him back to the Invincible, which he hoped still lay beached in the shadow of Cair Paravel, in Narnia. Within her computer memory banks lay massive amounts of data. Namely, surveillance on most of Voldemort's Death Eaters, including their whereabouts, travel habits, their connections, and so forth. An American wizard named Aaron Green had been most helpful, being a professional curse-breaker. He had been able to break through the secrecy charm that the Dark Lord had placed on Severus, and so they had been able to accurately profile most of the Death Eaters.

If the Invincible was still in Narnia, they would once again have access to that information. They could eliminate the Death Eaters in one massive strike, rather than trying to pick them off one at a time, as the Order was trying to do at present.

oOo

The morning of November 11 was a subdued affair, as Lisa and Travis marked Remembrance Day(2). This year, it included many of those who called the trunk home, as war crossed the boundaries of magic and muggle. With a war unfolding in the wizard world, it was more than appropriate to honour those who had fought bravely against the enemy, whether it be on the beaches of Normandy in 1944, or the disastrous firefight at Earl's Court Exhibition Centre, only weeks earlier.

That afternoon, the members of Deadly Harvest sat in front of a gathering of the media at the Royal York Hotel in downtown Toronto. The group had come to a decision, and it was not going to be popular amongst their fans.

"As much as Adam would want us to continue, and not to cry over his death," said Chester. "We are all concerned about the safety of ourselves and our fans. From what the police have told us, the terrorist group specifically targeted us. That said, we have decided as a band that it's best if we cancel the remaining shows scheduled in Europe and the U.K. Our manager has not decided whether stops in Australia will be affected as of yet."

"Are you concerned that fans may label the band as cowards?" called out one reporter.

"No, definitely not," said Matt. "We just think it's not safe at the moment, and we hope to make up those cancelled dates sometime in the future, much like we already hope to make up dates we had to cancel here in Canada."

"How are you all making out with regards to the loss of Mr. Forsythe?" called out another reporter.

"As well as can be expected," said Frank. "We just deal and move on. It's what he would have wanted."

"Can any of you comment on the strange phenomena reported by numerous attendees of the concert?"

"No, we can't," answered Chester. "We were far too busy protecting our asses and trying to escape to notice exactly WHAT was going on."

"Some reported seeing red and green flashes of light…"

"No comment," said Frank.

"Were any of you interviewed by London police with regards to the incident?"

"Yes, we gave statements to the police. Look, we're not gonna discuss anymore of the incident on Halloween. If there aren't any more questions about the tour, I think we're done here," said Frank testily.

Once they had wrapped up affairs with their manager, the band returned to the trunk using their port keys, except for Frank. He and Harry, along with Travis, decided to go for a few drinks at the Snitch and Bludger, and perhaps dinner.

Unfortunately, they never actually got to order dinner. Just before, Remus found them. "Harry, you'd best come back to the trunk, we have a situation."

"Shit. Let's go, guys," said Harry, fishing a few galleons out of his satchel and leaving them on the table, as a tip. They quickly used the floo to return to the trunk, where they found Molly and Lisa tending to a dishevelled Severus Snape, resting in one of the chairs.

"What happened?" asked Harry.

"What did you say to the Dark Lord, Harry?" asked Severus, as he shakily drew out another vial of calming draught.

"He was waiting for me in my subconscious mind again last night, trying to break through my Occlumency barriers… I might have taunted him a little," answered Harry.

"Do you not think CAREFULLY about what kind of consequences that might have for OTHERS who might have to deal with him? He KILLED someone tonight, Potter!" Severus seethed. "He damned near killed ME. I daresay my days of spying are over… he managed to defeat my OWN defences, and that should say something as to just how angry he was."

"The dark mark… can't he…" Harry began.

"No. He can certainly make it… uncomfortable… kill me? No," answered Severus, downing yet another anti-Cruciatus potion.

"He can't go back to Hogwarts," said Remus. "Minerva has to be informed." Harry nodded, and Remus knelt in front of the public floo, to call on the Hogwarts headmistress. He shuddered, noting the clock showing the time in Scotland. They had erected two clocks above the public floo as a reminder of the time difference.

"Sorry, Severus," Harry apologized. "He's been trying to break in for the past few nights." Just then, the floo fired, and Minerva stepped out. She had dressed, but had only loosely tied her hair back.

"What's happened?"

"Voldemort broke through my Occlumency is what's happened, Minerva," answered Severus.

"Oh my…"

"You will need to find a replacement for Defence Against the Dark Arts, Minerva. It won't be safe for Severus to be in the U.K.," said Remus.

"Indeed. A most unfortunate situation. What brought this about?"

"It was my fault, professor," answered Harry. "He's been trying to break into my mind for several nights now… and I may have said some things to him last night. I think it'll continue until I can get rid of this." Harry brushed a lock of hair off his forehead, revealing his infamous scar.

"That is most certainly not your fault, Harry," said Remus. "Although you do need to be more careful when he visits, with what you say to him."

"I know."

"That most certainly puts me in a deep bind, Mr. Potter," said Minerva. "I'm already covering transfiguration as it is."

"Sorry."

"Remus…"

"Professor, please don't…"

"Remus, you were the best DADA professor we had," said Harry. "I mean, do we really want Umbridge to come back?"

That was all it took. Remus was fully aware of the despicable things Delores Umbridge had done, while on faculty at Hogwarts. He only needed to look at the back of Harry's right hand to find a harsh reminder. "Very well," he said. "I'll be at breakfast in the morning, then."

"Thank you, Remus."

"I guess we'll be calling you 'Professor Lupin' from here on out, then." Harry grinned. That got a snort from one of the portraits above the private floo; Harry looked to see James, trying not to laugh.

"Serious, dad…"

"No, I'M Sirius!" That got a laugh from both Travis and Frank, and a grin from Harry.

-cough- "Sirius" -cough- "joke," said James.

"Very funny, Prongs," said Remus. "I do admit that I did enjoy teaching. The thing is this: parents weren't exactly thrilled a werewolf was teaching at Hogwarts, and I don't expect that to change. I am only accepting this temporarily, Minerva."

"Severus… you said Voldemort killed someone. Was it someone who mattered?" asked Harry.

"You know I can't answer that," answered Severus. "The secrecy charm prevents me from revealing anyone in the membership." Harry again made a mental note to track down Aaron Green… then realized that wouldn't be a lot of good, since it was nearly 40 years into the future when they actually met. More than ever, he needed access to the Invincible's computer.

oOo

November 16 was one of great expectations. The calculations that would have taken a matter of minutes by Invincible's computer had taken days by hand. They had already spent nearly two days setting up focus crystals and drawing runes around a circle in the Room of Requirement. Harry had finally caved to pressure from Remus, and let both Travis and Frank into the secret of what they were doing. Frank would wait in the trunk, while Travis, Harry, and Deric would activate the portal. Of course, Harry had drawn Deric into the project long before, as he had strong mind defences, one of the requirements of being a member of the Canadian Ministry's SAU.

Harry had originally wanted to bring Remus, but with him now having to teach at Hogwarts, that was out of the question. Yet, Harry would somehow make sure that Remus saw Narnia. It was one of those things that he had lamented the first time they had visited. Remus was long gone before they visited in the future, as was Tonks. Come to think of it, a large number of the order had been killed by the time they made their incursion into Narnia.

His mind quickly snapped back to the task at hand. The runes were just about finished and now it came to activating them. It was now a matter of activating the focus crystals, of which there were six. The wizards would each activate two of them.

"Ready?" asked Deric.

"Ready," answered Harry. Both Deric and Travis nodded, and the three of them climbed into the circle, careful not to disturb the three rings of runes that had been drawn around the outside of it. They then pointed their wands at three of the focus crystals, making identical gestures with their wands. The crystals seemed to glow yellow and vibrate.

"Next." They then activated the second trio of crystals, which glowed a blue colour, and also vibrated.

"Here goes," said Harry, pointing his wand at the floor inside the circle. "PORTUS!"

The runes around the circle began to activate, one after the other, giving off either a blue or yellow colour, alternating. First, the inner circle of runes activated, causing the entire circle to turn yellow. Next, the middle ring activated, causing the circle to turn a more green colour. Finally, the outer circle of runes activated, causing the circle to shimmer blue.

"Now what?" asked Travis.

"We go," said Harry. "Hold on your wands… ACTIVATE!"

It was by no means a subtle hook about the naval, like a typical port key. It was jarring, as the three of them were flung around roughly, while everything faded to darkness. A sense of dread crossed Harry's mind. 'Did I do this correctly?'

* * *

_**AUTHOR NOTES**__: I know, I'm evil and sadistic… but this was absolutely perfect, and so this is where I leave it. Now, of course, what happened between Travis and Harry… that had to happen. Travis is in a lot of pain at this point, having just lost Bill. It would be natural he would have a bit of jealousy and anger toward Harry and Frank._

_About toad-face. Beware, we just might see her pink self in the near future… I know, I'm sadistic. And I'm not even INTO BDSM… :) Oh, hold on your seatbelts, it's gonna be a bumpy ride!_

_(1) If you have NOT read "Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe", you really SHOULD. It is truly a wonderful story, I much enjoyed it as a kid, it was (and still is) one of my favourite books. The movies are a nice interpretation of the books, but by no means are they a substitute._

_(2) Also known as Veteran's Day in the United States. The day Canadians honour our war dead, our soldiers, those who made the ultimate sacrifice in the name of freedom._


	4. Plans Interrupted

WARNING: Major spoilers for the "Prince Caspian" movie-verse (and probably the book, too). Coarse language.

* * *

**4: PLANS INTERRUPTED**

The attempted infiltration of Miraz's castle had gone horribly wrong. Only half the number of Narnian soldiers arrived back at Aslan's How, where some had remained, including Lucy. Both Peter and Caspian had sour looks on their faces.

"What happened?" asked Lucy.

"Ask him," said Peter, looking toward Caspian.

"Peter," Susan pleaded from behind.

"Me? You could have called it off. There was still time," Caspian rebutted.

"No, there wasn't, thanks to you. If you'd kept to the plan, those soldiers might be alive right now," Peter huffed.

"And, if you'd just stayed here like I suggested, they definitely would be!" Caspian snapped back, his anger rising.

"You called US, remember?"

"My first mistake," Caspian snorted.

"No. Your first mistake was thinking you could lead these people."

"HEY!" Caspian erupted. "I am not the one who abandoned Narnia!"

"You invaded Narnia," Peter hissed. "You have no more right to it than Miraz does! You, him, your father… Narnia's better off without the lot of you!"

Caspian snapped, giving an angry growl. In an instant, Prince and King were facing each other, swords drawn.

"Stop it!" cried Edmund, as Glenstorm, a dark looking centaur, gently set the dwarf, Trumpkin, carefully on the ground. Lucy quickly dropped to his side and administered a few drops to him from her cordial, while the others watched. It drew focus away from the heated battle between the two leaders, as the dwarf slowly opened his eyes. "What are you all standing around for? The Telmarines will be here soon enough," he said. That got Lucy to smile.

"Thank you, my dear little friend."(1)

The scene was suddenly interrupted as a tremendous flash was seen on the horizon. It was accompanied, moments later, by a tremendous CRACK that sounded like an intense clap of thunder. It sent more than a few people to the ground, while others had instinctually drawn weapons.

"Most… unnatural," said Glenstorm, taking his hand off the hilt of his blade.

"What… would make such a noise?" asked Caspian nervously.

"I know EXACTLY what it is," said Peter, smiling for the first time since before the ill-fated assault on the castle.

"So do I," said Lucy.

"Then perhaps you might enlighten us, my liege," said Reepicheep, who happened to be a mouse.

"Years ago, when we first came to Narnia, not long after we became kings and queens, visitors came from another world… much like we did," said Peter.

"Their ships made a loud noise exactly like what just happened," said Edmund.

"I KNEW they would come back some day!" Lucy exclaimed.

"Lu, we do not know that for sure. I hope it is truly them, because we need all the help we can get." Peter again cast a sour look at Caspian.

"We do not even know…" Susan began to object.

"They would go to Cair Paravel… one of their ships is still there. Remember, Susan?" Edmund pointed out.

"The next question, then, is who's coming with me to Cair Paravel?"

"And how do you plan on getting there, Peter? Have you already forgotten our harrowing track through the gorge?" Susan challenged.

"I think we have that sorted," said Edmund, gesturing to several griffins resting nearby. "I will go."

"No," answered Peter. "Stay here with Lucy. Susan, I would like to have you and your bow."

"I will join you also," said Caspian.

oOo

It seemed like hours, travelling through a void. In reality, it was only a second or two, before the three wizards were suddenly spinning wildly toward the ground. Deric, being far more experienced with the use of port keys, managed to land on his feet, while Harry and Travis landed in a heap on the ground. Deric instantly drew his wand. Protocol dictated that, 'strange place with unknown variables, wand out'.

"YES!" Harry practically leapt for joy, gesturing toward the water. They had landed on a beach with a high bluff. As Harry had expected, a large ship, or aircraft—Deric and Travis couldn't decide WHICH it was supposed to be- lay partially beached.

"So is that supposed to be a boat or an aircraft?" asked Travis.

"It's both," answered Harry. He started scanning the beach, looking for other people. Then, his eyes fell on the bluff where the great castle should have been. Instead, he only saw rocks and trees.

"Wait… this can't be right. The castle should be right there," said Harry.

"A castle? You mean that place, Cair Paravel, or whatever?"

"Yeah. It should be there. Hang on, I'm going up there."

"Harry, NO!" Deric protested, but it was too late. Harry vanished with a loud CRACK, to reappear at the top of the bluff. Travis and Deric quickly followed suit.

"Well, there was definitely SOMETHING here at one time," said Deric, gesturing to several broken columns and a few walls.

"Bloody hell!" Harry said, as it dawned on him. "Then… Peter… Lucy… Susan… and Ed, and Orieus… they're gone."

"I'm sorry, Harry," said Travis, sliding an arm around him.

"Don't let Frankie see you doing that," said Deric.

"He won't mind at all," said Harry, looking around. His eyes fell on the concealed access that led into the bunker. "Well, SOMEONE'S been here…"

"How do you know?"

"Follow me."

A few moments later, they were standing in the chamber that rested below the spots where the thrones had been. Their wands lit the room, and, in the dim light, they spotted footprints and modern clothes.

"Looks like a school uniform," said Deric, picking up a tie. "Just lovely, last thing we need… a bunch of kids needing supervision."

"Harry, let's set up your teleport pad here. It's out of sight and so on, right?"

"Not yet. Let's go to the bunker the Invincible's crew set up. It will be in the side of the bluff, right in front of her."

"It's as if you KNEW you would be coming back," said Travis.

"I guess some part of me knew that, yeah. Or maybe that's destiny. As much as I'm meant to fight Voldemort. Let's get back down to the beach." This time, the three of them linked arms, and Harry apparated them back down to the beach, close to the Invincible.

Up close, the Invincible was enormous. She easily stood 50 feet high, and her central body was about 60 feet wide. That central body was about 800 feet long, with a large cross-structure that stuck out of both sides. From that, there extended twin bodies about half the length again, from which rose a tail and rudder.

"You sure this will still be, um, seaworthy, Harry?"

"She will once we make repairs. Bloody hell, I can't believe she's still here."

"Where's the bunker you're talking about?"

"This way." Harry led the others to the face of the bluff, where a tangle of roots, branches, and debris had collected around a large hole. "Could I get some help with this?" He drew his wand and cried, "REDUCTO!". The others joined in, and soon, the path was cleared, revealing a larger opening, at the back of which was a massive steel door.

"Come on!" said Harry, racing to the back. He tapped the large handle with his wand, saying, "Alohamora!" There were eight distinctive clicks, and the door cracked open. "Lumos!" The end of his wand lit up as he then pulled the door the rest of the way open.

"Now, if I remember correctly…" Harry quickly spotted the pot lights, and tapped each of them. They lit up at once, providing much better light to the room.

"So what is this?"

"Things we'll need to get Invincible running again."

"God, most of this stuff is really ancient, shit you'd see at the turn of the century or something," said Travis.

"Well, when everything went to hell, we had to improvise, use older equipment and so on. Wait 'till you see the inside of the Invincible. It's not like any boat you know. Help me pull this out." He gestured to a strange piece of machinery that had several cables coiled up on top of it.

"A generator?"

"We need electricity. In here and out there. There's stuff that, well, it's better not to use magic on."

"Oh."

"We can use magic on that, though, right?" Travis gestured to the generator.

"I guess so."

"Locomotor GENERATOR!" Travis cried. "All right, where do you want it?"

"Outside. The petrol fumes are particularly foul."

"Speaking of petrol, where do you intend on getting that from?"

"There." Harry gestured to a number of large 50-gallon drums stacked in the corner. "We'll need those, too."

Stepping back out into the sunlight, Travis instantly lost concentration, dropping the piece of machinery, finding three individuals staring back at him, Harry, and Deric. The young lady of the group had her bow trained on them.

"P-p-peter? Susan?" Harry managed, looking between the two of them.

"You know them?" asked Deric.

"General Potter? Captain Stafford?" the young man Harry believed to be Peter questioned.

"King Peter… Merlin, I haven't been called that in ten years… bloody hell… this is giving me a headache… you should be OLDER."

"And so should you," answered Peter.

"Captain Stafford?" asked Deric, arching an eyebrow.

"We better find a place to talk… and you are?" asked Harry, gesturing to the stranger.

"I am Prince Caspian the tenth."

"Harry Potter," said Harry, extending a hand. Caspian looked at it briefly and accepted it. "These are my friends Travis, and Deric."

"What is this?" Caspian gestured at the Invincible.

"The UCS Invincible. We left it behind the last time we were here," said Harry. "We've only come back to retrieve her, get her running again."

"Harry, are you sure it's safe to be telling…"

"Deric, it's fine. This is High King Peter, and Queen Susan. Anyone they introduce as a friend, well, I believe I can trust them as well. Narnia is, or at least, was, a place where you could take people at face value."

"That, I am afraid, has changed, Harry," said Peter, gesturing to the ruins.

"Now I know that didn't happen overnight," said Travis. "This looks like hundreds of years' decay."

"My ancestors invaded Narnia," said Caspian.

"Peter, are you sure…" began Susan.

"It's fine," answered Peter, again casting an icy glance Caspian's way. Travis caught that and filed it away for later.

"Harry, all this is fine and good, but let's get going with what we started. Maybe we should drop our teleport pad back to the trunk, get the others out to help."

"Right, indeed," said Harry.

"Wait. Harry. General Potter, as High King of Narnia, I am formally requesting the assistance of your forces." Peter dropped to one knee, having drawn his sword and driven it into the sand. He knelt, hand on the hilt of the sword, head bowed. Caspian hesitated for a moment, then followed suit.

Harry was held speechless. All that kept running through his head, was, 'what was going on?' "I… I will do what I can… but… what in Merlin's name is going on?"

"For one, General…"

"Please, Susan, it's just Harry."

"For one, Harry, then… it's been about 1300 years since we last set foot in Narnia. Most certainly, now, you CAN'T, as you worded it, take people at face value," Susan explained.

"More pressing an issue, my uncle is mobilizing his entire force against our remaining soldiers at Aslan's How," said Caspian.

"They will arrive no later than tomorrow morning, by our expectations," said Peter.

"Portkeys?" thought Travis aloud.

"How many people are we talking?" asked Deric.

"I don't know… a few hundred, maybe," answered Peter.

"We'd have to stagger their use… I can make it reusable…"

"Excuse me… but… you've lost me," said Caspian.

"Something like this…" Harry instantly vanished with a CRACK, to appear behind Caspian. He actually yelped in shock.

"It's fine, they're wizards," explained Peter.

"But… it's WITCHCRAFT!"

"It's magic," answered Travis, once again lifting the generator using his wand. "Harry, where did you want this?"

"Against the face of the bluff… right there will do."

"But… magic such as that… it's evil!" Caspian challenged, his hand wanting to travel to the hilt of his sword.

"Oh please, don't START about that dragon shit," Harry groaned. "LOOK. Magic is a wonderful gift, it's only how one uses it. Unfortunately I know all too well some who use it for evil purposes."

"How so?" Caspian persisted. Harry groaned again, and lifted the hair off his forehead, to reveal his scar.

"A dark wizard gave me this trying to kill me. He managed to kill both my parents before he did it."

"Guys. Look. Let's debate the finer points on the use of magic later," said Deric. "Harry, drop the fucking portal so we can get some help here."

"Excuse me?" said Susan, casting a sour look at Deric.

"Sorry," Deric quickly apologised.

Meanwhile, Harry quickly opened his satchel, and pulled out what looked like a black metal plate, then said, "Follow me."

Back in the bunker, Harry removed the sticking charm from an identical black plate, which then dropped to the floor with a loud CLANG, echoing in the chamber. "Sorry."

"What is this stuff?" asked Caspian.

"Stuff that belongs to the Invincible," answered Harry as he applied a sticking charm to the new plate and placed it on the wall. There was a red box painted on the floor.

"Peter and Susan. You guys remember the rules about the teleport pads?"

"Of course," answered Peter. Susan only nodded.

"Great." Harry tapped the black panel, saying, "Add, Peter Pevensie." A silver point of light vanished into the panel. He then did the same for his siblings, and Caspian. "Right, then. I'll be right back." He touched the black panel, and vanished.

"Well, did it work?" Harry found Frank sitting in one of the chairs in the common room, waiting.

"Exactly as planned," answered Harry, walking over to meet his mate. Just then, Deric appeared on the pad.

"Harry, I'm gonna call a few of my partners at the Ministry."

"And how do you plan on explaining their absence, Mr. Stafford?" asked Lily, from her portrait.

"Hmmmm… good point."

"Simple. A brilliant solution, actually," answered Harry, "if you don't mind spending an hour. It might be dangerous, but…"

"Harry, I'm SAU. That's what we DO."

"Oh. Right. Then I want you and a few of your friends to retrieve another Horcrux." Deric frowned, as that was definitely not what he had in mind, but only nodded, activating the public floo.

"MINISTRY OF MAGIC, SAU OFFICE!"

He vanished into the red flames. As that happened, Peter appeared on the teleport pad and quickly stepped off.

"Who… who are you?" asked Frank.

"Frankie, this is Peter. Peter, of course you remember Frankie."

"Sure. Much older, I must admit."

"Likewise," said Harry. "There much I have to tell you, but now's not the time."

Harry vanished into the library, leaving Frank and Peter alone in the common room.

"It isn't as I remember it," said Peter, finally.

"And who are you, dear?" asked Lily, from her portrait.

"Mr. and Mrs. Potter," Peter said. "And Sirius, good to see you all again."

"How do you know of us?" asked James.

"That is a story for Gen… for Harry to tell, but I am Peter."

"Oh, of course!" Lily quickly put things together. "You are one of the children Harry told us about… so Harry made it back into Narnia?"

"…Absolutely the most foolish thing you could have done, Potter! As if you don't have enough at your feet as it is!" Harry returned from the library, with Alastor following. Hermione and Luna also followed, both casting curious glances at Peter. At the same time, the twins happened to enter from the corridor.

"Look, it's already done… and I believe it's worth it. Now will you help or not? I need every wand I can get."

"Neville's gone into Toronto with his gran," said Luna.

"Harry, son, we will send anyone else through," said James.

"Thanks, dad. Look, guys. There is information aboard the Invincible that will save us weeks, months, possibly years."

"Why not just take what you need from it?" asked Frank. "I mean, going through all the bullshit to get it going… and I mean, how are you gonna keep something that big hidden here?"

"Already sorted," answered Harry. "And the Invincible is an incredible fighting ship. I want her weapon. Right. Anyone who's coming, let's go."

Less than a minute later, a larger crowd of people then stood in the bunker. The others had gone back outside.

"This way." Harry led the rest back out onto the beach, where he found Travis, Caspian, and Susan, making light conversation.

"Right, then," said Harry. "Where is Aslan's How?"

"Err… well… it's…"

"Never mind. Hold still for a moment, and think very carefully of the location. Make sure it's right at the front of your mind."

"All right, I've got it," said Peter.

"Great." Harry gently pushed into Peter's mind and easily saw the location. It looked like a Mayan pyramid, overgrown with grass and brush. He spotted numerous individuals around it, including several fauns standing watch on the upper levels.

"All right. Now to make some portkeys."

"A portkey?" asked Caspian.

"Wait. Harry, what is this place, mate? And who are these people?" asked George.

"Right, yes, knew I was forgetting something." Harry gave a sheepish grin. "This is Peter, Susan, and Caspian. I'll leave you to introduce yourselves, I guess…"

"A portkey is a way to travel from one place to another, using a mundane object…" began Travis.

"Such as this stick," said Harry, picking up a short stick from the beach.

"Harry, why… where are you going?"

"Not 'you', we," answered Harry.

"Not us, Harry, we'll take the griffins back and meet you there," said Peter.

"Which will mean us arriving long before you do, and having to explain to a load of strangers… not a smart plan," said Travis. Just then, a group of ten individuals stepped out of the cave entrance. They were dressed in black uniforms, and carried what seemed like a vast amount of equipment.

"Not too impressed with that, Potter," said Deric.

"S-s-sorry. Look, we needed to get going quickly. If I pass you the location, can you get there?"

"Of course," answered Deric, softening.

"Great. Ready?"

"Let me have it." That got a snort and a goofy grin from Travis.

"Shut up," said Harry, casting a scowl Travis' way. He then gently pushed into Deric's mind, quickly noticing the incredible defences he had set up. Legilimency was useful for not only reading memories, but also passing memories, which was what he did. He then gently exited.

"Most impressive, Harry. Since when did you become a master legilimens?"

"No time to explain just now. Look, we'll sit down for a lengthy chat tonight, I have a lot to tell. You know now where you're going?"

"Clear as mud. What should we do with it when we find it?"

"Bring it here. DO NOT try to destroy it or otherwise tamper with it, it will do you serious harm. Understand?"

"Clearly." Deric turned back to the rest of the men with him. "All right, gentlemen, let's move out." The group disappeared back into the cave.

"Who were they?" asked Susan.

"Special Action Unit… Harry, what are they doing?" asked Travis.

"Horcrux," Harry simply said.

"Oh. Ok, say no more."

"Right. Now." Harry drew his wand, and tapped the stick, saying, "Portus!"

"What shall we do with the griffins?" asked Susan.

"They wait here," answered Peter. "I only assume everyone will be coming here."

"Wait. There is no way everyone will fit on this beach," said Susan.

"No, we can put most of them up there." Peter gestured above the bluff. "Harry, how long do you think it will take to get your boat operational?"

"A couple of days at least."

"A 'couple of days'? We may not HAVE a couple of days!" said Caspian.

"What is the hurry?" asked Luna.

"The Telmarines will take at least that to get turned around… not the least, they won't have any idea as to exactly where we've gone… no, I think we will buy ourselves three or four days, while they search the countryside," said Peter, while Harry continued making a stack of port keys.

"All right, let's make a trip. Fred, George, Hermione, and Luna, I need you guys to come with Peter and I. Err… Susan and Caspian, stay here with Travis, Frankie, and Alastor. Now gather around!" Harry produced one of the items he had charmed earlier. "It activates in 15 seconds, so grab on!"

Caspian let out a gasp, as the group suddenly vanished, as Harry had said, 15 seconds later. Travis had to turn away to hide his grin. He remembered seeing some of the members of Deadly Harvest and their reaction to magic; Caspian's was a little more pronounced.

"Not used to magic, lad?" asked Alastor.

"Most definitely not," answered Caspian. "I have been taught magic is an evil thing."

"Whoever taught you that nonsense needs to be shot and pissed on, I think," said Travis. "Jesus Christ, I would be lost without magic, I think." He drew his wand and transfigured several small twigs into comfortable deck chairs. "Let's have a seat, I'm sure they'll be a while."

"Better get used to it," said Frank. "It's second nature."

"And it may just save Narnia," said Susan, taking a seat in one of the chairs. "Like Peter said, had you only held to our plan, it wouldn't have ended up a disaster." She cast an icy glare Caspian's way.

"An operation that went south, I gather," asked Alastor.

"Very much so," said Susan, and began to give an abbreviated account of the ill-fated mission to infiltrate the Telmarine castle.

oOo

The group landed very awkwardly, not far from the tomb that was Aslan's How. A number of those gathered outside saw the rather awkward landing, and rushed over to help.

"Peter… how… HARRY!" exclaimed Lucy, excited. "Wait, you are so much younger than I remember!"

"I know… I'll explain tonight. Right now…" he drew his wand, and pressed it to his throat. "Sonorus!" He waited a moment. "Good afternoon!" His voice carried for a distance, and everyone around the tomb looked in his direction. "I need everyone to gather around me, right away, please!" Peter whispered something in his ear, and Harry continued, "That includes everyone INSIDE." He paused, and then cancelled the charm, saying, "Quietus."

"It doesn't hurt you to do that?" asked Edmund, joining his brother.

"Not at all."

"Why would it? It's a simple charm," said Hermione. She gasped as a very imposing, dark centaur plodded over.

"This is Glenstorm," Peter introduced.

"I'm Hermione," said Hermione, extending a hand. The centaur had to bend over a bit to reach it, but shook it. That got a grin from Harry.

"Centaurs, right, forgot about them… no offence… err… they will have to take a portkey as their own group."

"I will see to organizing us, although I do ask exactly what you are planning," said Glenstorm.

"Just, yeah, get into a group, I will explain once everyone has gathered around."

oOo

"I would have to agree with Susan here," said Alastor. "During any tactical mission such as what you attempted to mount, never deviate from the plan. It cost you all severely."

"God, Caspian, I've been in your shoes," said Frank. "I didn't follow Harry's instructions… and I almost died." He pulled his pack of cigarettes out of his back pocket, took one out, and lit it.

"Thing is, revenge makes us do stupid things sometimes. This 'Miraz' prick, he's your uncle?" asked Travis, absently following Frank's lead.

"Yes."

"I see now. The thing is, although I mean… you already know… but you made things much worse by stirring them up. Miraz will come at you with everything he's got. At least that's what I would do if I were in his shoes. Never give the enemy a rallying point. That's exactly what you did." Travis took a strong drag off his smoke.

"Like what Voldemort did to Harry," said Frank.

"Sort of, I guess, and I mean, me too. Bill… Jesus, he meant so much to me… it still hurts," said Travis, his voice trailing off.

"You were in love with another man?" asked Caspian.

"Yeah, why, does it bother you?"

"Well, no, I mean, I didn't know that happened."

"Why wouldn't it?" asked Frank. "Jesus, Harry means the world to me… he went fucking nuts because I got hurt by Voldemort."

"Yes, that's right… you and Harry were very close the last time you were in Narnia," said Susan. Frank only nodded, taking another drag off his smoke.

oOo

Finally, the large group of Narnians had gathered around Harry.

"Right, then. We are going to take you all to Cair Paravel. I need everyone to form into groups of 10 to 15… err… group yourselves into relatively similar sizes, please." He turned to Peter. "Take the first group… I will stay here making more portkeys. Have someone collect the port keys once there, we'll have to de-contaminate them." He pulled out one of the port keys, and tapped it with his wand, saying, "Activate." He paused. "This will trigger in one minute. You remember the rules?"

"Right. Yes." Peter quickly walked over to the group of centaurs, with the port key Harry passed him.

"Everyone put a finger on it, and don't let go until I tell you to."

"You have done this before?" asked another centaur.

"Only a few times, but trust me, it works."

Less than a minute later, Peter and the group of centaurs vanished from the field. The rest of the group let out a gasp of shock.

"All right, come off it, it's perfectly safe. Next…" said Harry.

oOo

"Travis? Where's Harry?" asked Ron, appearing from the mouth of the cave.

"He's gone to… um… well… he'll be back soon," answered Travis, standing. At just that moment, Peter and the group of centaurs were deposited rather roughly on the beach.

"Blimey, where are we anyway?"

"This is Narnia," answered Susan, "And you are?"

"Ron. Ron Weasley."

"You are a friend of Harry's?"

"Yes… err… where is he? His mum said something about needing help."

"He's making portkeys at Aslan's How," answered Peter, walking over. "Where did the chairs come from?"

"Here." Travis stood up.

"No, its…"

"Wait." Travis pointed at several more pieces of debris on the beach, transfiguring them into identical chairs.

"Most impressive," said Peter, taking one of the seats.

"Indeed, most impressive," said Glenstorm, plodding over to the group. The others moved to the side of the bluff to talk amongst themselves.

"What… a centaur… I thought… err… you didn't associate with humans," said Ron, cautiously, remembering Hermione's description of their confrontation with centaurs in the Forbidden Forest in June.

"And why would we not?" asked Glenstorm, confused.

"Ron, that's our world. I think things are different here," said Travis.

"A certain badger reminded us not more than a day ago, 'Narnia was never right except when a son of Adam was king'," said Glenstorm.

"A 'son of Adam'?" Travis groaned. "We're called humans. Not some fucking biblical rhetoric!"

"That is what Aslan called you," said Glenstorm. "So goes our knowledge of him, at least."

"Right. Whatever." Just then, another group of Narnians dropped onto the beach, along with Hermione. As quickly as they landed, another group followed, led by Edmund.

The landings continued for the next 20 minutes, until Harry himself at last arrived, with the remaining Narnians and Lucy. It was perfect timing, for, at that point, Deric stepped out of the cave entrance, along with his men. At Harry's inquisitive glance, he gave a 'thumbs up'. "I see you've been busy, Harry." He indicated the now crowded beach.

"Very. So you got it?"

"With no difficulty. You could have retrieved it yourself, Harry." Deric passed him the ring. Harry carefully prodded the stone loose with his fingers, and then pocketed both items.

"Keep sake?"

"No. That stone is no ordinary stone. I would rather it not be lost or destroyed. Now… I guess we need a Basilisk fang."

"Later, Harry. You got everyone here and so on, one task at a time," said Travis. Then he got an idea. "Harry, those things scream when they're destroyed, right?"

"Like a banshee."

"Ok. Peter, you know the concept of psychological warfare, right?"

"Of course! The Germans used it last year, the Blitz, so they called it."

"I'm thinking of something similar. We'll have to get our brooms, though," said Travis.

"I see where you're going," said Harry, "It would probably be best to do it at night to maximize the effect."

"We should try and locate them first, it'll be fucking impossible after dark," said Travis.

"Right. Once we do that, we have to get going with getting Invincible back in the air. That's what we're here for," said Harry. "Peter, you have an idea where they'll be coming from?"

"Yes, we spotted them shortly before we met up with Caspian and the Narnians at the Dancing Lawn. They were building a bridge across the river."

"Good. You can come with me, then."

"Peter, it's dangerous! What if you're seen?" cried Susan.

"We'll be under a disillusionment charm," said Harry. "They won't see us."

"A dis… illusion… charm?" asked Caspian.

"The person or object it is cast on 'blends in' with the surroundings, something like camouflage," Travis explained.

"Are you sure that is safe, my liege?" asked Reepicheep. Harry had mounted his Firebolt, and Peter had climbed on behind, while Caspian watched, uncertainty still marking his features. This 'magic' still had him on edge, for it went against what he had been taught.

"Would you care to come?" asked Peter. "That is, if you don't mind, Harry."

"Not at all," answered Harry. The mouse leapt onto Peter's leg and quickly scurried up to rest on his shoulder.

"Hold on!" warned Harry, and the broom rose into the air, quickly clearing the edge of the bluff.

"Aslan's mane!" cried Reepicheep, as they continued to rise, high above the ground.

"You have flown before, how is this different?" asked Peter, as Harry set a course inland.

"I have, but not by magic," answered the mouse.

"I love flying," said Harry, "When things get to me, this is where I come. High above the ground, feeling the wind in my face. There are few feelings like it."

"As Lu said to me last time you were here," noted Peter.

"Right. Now. You have to guide me."

"Follow the gorge."

"Ok, then." Harry kept a grip on the broom with his left hand, while producing his wand. He tapped the broom with it, muttering an incantation.

It was by no means a short trip, but they finally arrived at the site where the Telmarines had built a bridge across the river. "Bloody hell," Harry managed. Indeed, the enemy was crossing the river by the hundreds, along with massive siege machines.

"We would have been massacred," Peter said. "We might have lasted a few hours at most… Damn you, Caspian!"

"Hey, we all make mistakes, Merlin's balls, I've made enough of them. Look, at least you won't have to worry about those…" He gestured to the trebuchets.

"I'll concede that. Let's find the front line."

oOo

While Harry, Peter, and Reepicheep scouted the movements of the Telmarine soldiers, the wizards left behind at Cair Paravel began setting up tents and such, depending on ability. Of course, most of them were still horribly in the dark about exactly what was going on, but still did their best in light of the circumstances. Both Hermione and Luna were fascinated by the numerous speaking creatures that called themselves 'Narnians'. It was hard to keep concentrating on the tasks at hand, with all the distractions. The centaurs were amazing in their own right, but both were far more intrigued by the fauns—half human, half goat beast folk.

Travis, meanwhile, had already apparated to various points on top of the Invincible. He already assumed there was some flooding, and had then pulled out what looked like pumps out of the bunker. 'Then again,' he thought, 'why bother with pumps when we can just banish the water?' There was much Harry had not explained, and the 'I'll tell you soon' phrase was beginning to grate on him.

Another part of him was truly intrigued by the massive boat. He had already located the main entrance hatch, but had not opened it, deciding to wait until Harry returned. Entering a derelict vessel was extremely dangerous, even if the person knew it well. In this case, Travis had no clue what it was like inside. He was taking enough of a risk just walking around on top of it.

"How does she look?" asked Deric, as Travis once again took a seat in one of the chairs he transfigured earlier, and lit a cigarette.

"I don't know, really. Fuck, though, she's huge. Almost 1200 feet, I estimate."

"They did fly, Mr. Carter," said Lucy. "There were three of them the first time they came to Narnia."

"What happened?"

"There was a dark wizard on the Invincible, a… Death Eater, if I remember correctly?" Travis nodded. "Well, he put some sort of bad program…"

"Virus?"

"That's it, a virus, into the computer, and it caused the Invincible to crash."

"A… Death Eater?" asked Caspian.

"Evil witch or wizard," answered Travis. "Remember what we said earlier, magic itself is not evil, but people can do evil WITH it."

"Oi! Travis, a hand over here!" Edmund called.

"What do you need?" asked Travis, joining Edmund near the face of the bluff.

"Do you know how to make teleport pads, like what you have in the trunk?"

"Of course."

"We think it might be a good idea to have one linking us up to the top of the bluff."

"Yeah, that would make sense. Hold on for a minute."

It took Travis all of two minutes to set up two teleport panels linking the beach with the top of the bluff. He quickly saw the tactical advantage of being able to easily get up to the top of the bluff. The pad was made from several posts, so one of any height could use it, whether it was a mouse or a centaur.

oOo

Harry, Peter, and Reepicheep returned to Cair Paravel to find everyone resting comfortably. Harry was not surprised to find Ron and Edmund playing chess… 'Of course he brought his wizard chess set out', thought Harry, rolling his eyes.

"Well, what's the verdict?" asked Travis.

"Thousands of them," answered Peter. "We're bloody lucky we moved here. They have siege engines."

"And no doubt they will bring them here," said Susan.

"Across that gorge? Not likely," said Harry, "at least not anytime soon. Unless they're able to build a trestle overnight."

"Harry… we owe you much gratitude," said Peter. "You may have saved many lives bringing us here."

"Right. Peter, you were a friend to me, as were the people you rule, mate. I remember those who have been kind to me."

"I still need an explanation of what's going on here, Potter," said Alastor. "You brought us into some strange world, with… unusual beings… what is your purpose here?"

"Questions I would like to have answers to, as well," said Caspian.

"Look, all of you. Tonight, after I return from the woods, we will have a lengthy chat about this. Just have a little more patience," answered Harry. That got another sour look from Alastor.

"I had a general poke around the ship, Harry. I'm guessing there's probably flooding," said Travis, standing.

"Count on it. We tried draining the flooded areas, but… when casting magic was difficult… it was impossible," explained Harry.

"And why would that be?" asked Alastor.

"Again, I'll explain the details later. First off, I need to have a look, and I'd like a bit of help."

"Count me in," said Travis.

"You know our answer, Harry," said Fred.

"Right, then. First thing, we'll need the radios."

"Radios?" asked George.

"Muggle device, right helpful keeping in contact with each other." He took off toward the cave.

"Mental," said Hermione, rolling her eyes. Oh yes, she had some very tough questions for Harry.

"Check mate," declared Ron, sitting back smugly.

"Ugh!" Edmund groaned in frustration. "This is impossible!"

"I think King Edmund…" began Fred.

"…Has realized the futility…" George continued.

"…in playing our little brother!" both twins finished.

"Right you are Gred."

"Indeed, Forge." That got a laugh from Peter.

"And do you two have a habit of finishing each others' sentences?" asked Caspian.

"Absolutely." Fred grinned.

"Oh. Before I forget," said Harry, rejoining the group with a bulky box, "whatever you do… DO NOT accept anything edible from the twins here…" He gave both twins a wicked grin.

"Harry, you…"

"…wound us…"

"…with such a comment!" both twins finished.

"Why?" asked Lucy.

"Well… let's see," said Harry, putting the box on the ground. "There's the Puking Pastilles…"

"One of our skiving snackboxes… candies one can eat for an instant excuse out of class," supplied Fred, grinning.

"…or the Fainting Fancy, causes the person to faint when they eat it…"

"But, why would you want to do something like that?" asked Susan.

"You do remember what I told you about my fifth school year?"

"That… um… Umbridge woman?" asked Edmund.

"That would be her. Evil toad. If she ever sets foot in Hogwarts again, I will hex her so bad her kids will feel it, if she should ever reproduce," Harry vowed. "Right, seriously…" he opened up the box, and pulled out one of the radios. "They work like this…"

By the time the sun was low on the western horizon, most of the flooded compartments had been drained. The Invincible had then righted herself, resting on a more even keel. However, Harry had to stop what he was doing, as dark would soon fall, and he wanted to be back well before midnight.

This time, Travis retrieved his own broom, then joined Peter and Harry, as they took off toward the Telmarines' campsite, deep in the Dark Wood. They arrived just as darkness at last fell across the land. They could see the campfires, and Harry grinned silently to himself. Peter had told him about Caspian's message to the enemy, etched into the back of a wagon at the river. What they were about to do would play right into that message.

"This is good enough here," Harry whispered. They landed, and while Peter held their brooms, and Travis created a light on the tip of his wand, Harry brought out the ring, and a Basilisk fang. It had been enclosed in a plastic freezer bag Lisa had supplied.

"Here goes," warned Harry, grasping the fang firmly in his hand. He jabbed the fang into the empty slot where the stone had been.

Two things happened at once. First, there was a god-awful cry that echoed across the woods. Accompanying it, was a loud BANG and a flash of light, which sent all three of them flying. A chorus of shouts and yells instantly filled the wood, as the Telmarine reacted to this strange occurrence.

"Who's there?" a voice cried out.

"We know there's someone there!" cried another. "Show yourself in the name of the king!"

"Fuck! Let's get the hell out of here," Travis hissed, climbing back to his feet. "Peter? You all right? …Peter?"

"Mate?" called Harry.

"Shit. Harry… he's over here… Shit! Your face, man…"

"What… Oh…" Harry said, putting a hand to his left cheek and finding blood. Peter was strewn awkwardly against a tree, having been knocked out.

"We'll have to… apparate back… to the beach… where are the brooms?"

"Here's yours… mine… I think… I think I'll need a new one." Travis gestured to another tree, where his broom had impacted and broke into several pieces.

"I say again, who's there?" came an angry shout.

"C'mon, Harry, let's go… Harry?" called Travis. He had suddenly collapsed to the ground. "Fuck," Travis cursed silently to himself, "Basilisk venom."

* * *

_**AUTHOR NOTES**: A doozie of a cliff-hanger to wrap up a doozie of a chapter. So we meet the characters of Narnia, get their first impressions of Harry and his friends. Moreover, we also get our first real glimpse of the Invincible. You will see a lot of her from here on out, she is definitely a main focus of the story. It is one of the primary goals Harry has in returning to his past self._

_Now… as to Caspian's uncertainty around magic, I draw this as being canon… the Telmarines are very suspicious of magic and so on. So of course, he would carry that sentiment as well. We'll have to see if Harry can shatter that conception, now, eh? Of course, Peter, Edmund, Susan, and Lucy already know Harry and a few of his friends from before, so nothing is really new to them, other than Harry's much stronger ability to do magic._

_At any rate, this chapter was a ton of fun to write. Now, have I pulled it off, intertwining the two worlds? Canon errors? Let me know (although, keep in mind, I'm drawing on the movie-verse for 'Prince Caspian'). Also keep in mind, there are some things that will be very AU (alternate universe)… and pretty much anything as far as the plot line is pretty much out the window at this point. Hold on your hats!!_

_(1) Taken verbatim from the movie. I thank those at NarniaWeb, for providing a very accurate transcript of the movie, from which I was able to glean the dialogue. Much credit is due there._


	5. Touch And Go

_Caution: LOTS of coarse language._

* * *

**5: TOUCH AND GO**

Travis was beside himself. He knew that Harry had been holding the Basilisk fang when the ring exploded, and it was likely that the pieces of it had embedded themselves in his hands and face.

"I say again, SHOW YOURSELVES!" came yet another shout, along with the sounds of men crashing through the brush.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck!" Travis swore. He dragged Harry over to where Peter was, haphazardly put their hands together, stuck Harry's broom into the tangle, stuck his hand on theirs, then reached in and activated his emergency port key.

Materializing on the teleport pad, Travis shouted, "HEY, ANYONE HERE? HELP!"

"What's wrong, dear?" asked Molly, stepping into the common room. She gasped at the sight of the two unconscious bodies underneath Travis.

"I need Fawkes, NOW." He had just barely gotten the words from his mouth when the phoenix materialized in a brilliant flash of flame, to rest on Travis' shoulder. He quickly understood the predicament and lit down on Harry's chest, dropping some tears into the wound on his cheek.

"What happened, Travis?" asked Tonks, appearing from the library. "And who is he?" She gestured to Peter.

"We… Harry destroyed a Horcrux, and it blew up in his face while he was holding a Basilisk fang," answered Travis.

"Oh dear!" cried Molly, as she quickly understood the implications.

"How long ago?" asked Severus, also stepping into the room.

"Less than a minute."

"The phoenix should be able to heal it, but the recovery may take longer this time," said Severus, stepping up to the public floo. He threw a pinch of floo powder into the fire, and when they turned red, he called out, "CALL HOGWARTS INFIRMARY." Meanwhile, Molly had separated the other boy from the mess, doing a cursory check for injuries. She too, gasped.

"Oh my."

"What now?" Travis somehow knew this wasn't going to be good.

"He's broken his back! And there's a shard of Basilisk fang embedded in his arm!" Molly cried. As soon as she said that, the phoenix instantly hopped over, dropping more tears into the said wound, while Molly carefully pulled the piece of fang out.

"Will he help his back?"

"I don't know… I think so," answered Molly. Just then, the floo fired, and Madam Pomfrey stepped through, bringing a series of vials with her.

"I wasn't informed there was more than one patient, Severus."

"It seemed Potter was the more serious, Poppy."

"And you were mistaking, Severus. Both were inflicted with Basilisk venom," said Molly, gesturing with her wand. Both Harry and the injured stranger were lifted off the floor, and moved to two cots Travis had conjured up.

"Who's the other boy?" asked Molly.

"His name is Peter. Shit, I better tell the others." Travis touched the teleport pad, leaving a room of babbling voices.

"Travis? What… how…" Hermione was confused, seeing him step out of the entrance to the bunker, onto the beach.

"That went about as wrong as it can get, Jesus FUCKING Christ!" Travis exploded. "Fucking Basilisk venom!"

"What?" Hermione exclaimed. "Travis, WHAT HAPPENED?"

"Harry's fucking lucky he's got that bird, he would've died. We destroyed the god damned Horcrux, and the fucking thing blew up!" With shaking hands, Travis managed to pull out his pack of cigarettes and dig one out.

"He… what? How… where is he?" Frank asked, fearful of the answer.

"Back in the trunk. Peter got nailed with a piece of the fang as well… I think they will be all right… Jesus Christ." He dropped into one of the chairs, letting out a heavy breath. Frank didn't bother standing around; he vanished into the bunker at once. Hermione and Ron both quickly followed Frank's lead, and also vanished into the bunker.

"Is… is our brother all right?" asked Susan nervously.

"Do you know what a phoenix is?"

"Harry's bird," Susan answered.

"Yes, one of them. His tears have healing properties. Now, they worked before against the venom of a Basilisk, but this is a second time… your brother… I think he'll be all right… but Harry… Oh God…" He finally managed to get his cigarette lit, and took a long drag off it.

"Take me to my brother," said Susan. It was not a request.

"Me too," said Edmund.

"No, Ed and Lu, you both stay here," said Susan firmly.

"I will come too," said Caspian.

"Come with me," said Travis, standing.

Of course, they were not the only ones to teleport into the trunk. The twins, Neville, and Luna also followed, concerned for their friend. The Room of Requirement had been changed into a miniature hospital ward again, and both teens were tucked into beds. Frank was already parked in a chair beside Harry's.

"All right, no, this is far too many people," said Madam Pomfrey. "I will only permit four at a time." She stood at the doors, forbidding anyone from passing.

"Look, whoever you are, that's my BROTHER in there!" Susan hissed. "You WILL let me see him!"

"I never…" Madam Pomfrey huffed, and stormed away. Susan at once went to Peter, her heart sinking at his slightly pale colour.

"The phoenix was able to help with the Basilisk venom, but he will need a few days' rest," said Molly. "He suffered a broken back."

"A broken back?" Susan looked horrified.

"The mending potions are helping the phoenix tears, and he will make a complete recovery," Molly said, sounding relieved.

"What about Harry?" asked Travis.

"It's touch and go. There were shards of Basilisk fang in his hand and face… Travis, had you delayed a second more, he would have died."

"This… Basilisk venom…" began Caspian.

"Fatal in minutes," answered Molly. "A phoenix is just about the only thing that can help." She gestured to the bird, who rested on his perch, provided by the room (the Room of Requirement can provide things as needed).

"Oh Harry," Hermione cried, the situation sinking in.

"If he dies, we are truly buggered," said Fred.

"In what way?" asked Caspian.

"And who are you… and you?" Molly gestured to Caspian, then Susan.

"I am Prince Caspian the tenth."

"Susan. Peter's sister."

"I see."

"Harry, Deric and I opened a portal into their world early this afternoon," Travis supplied. "Harry was trying to retrieve a ship of some kind that has a bunch of information inside it he needs."

"If Harry dies, Voldemort will rule the wizarding world," said Molly. "Why was this project not mentioned to any of us?"

"Harry told Remus… and Deric was with us… Look, everyone. The Harry we're dealing with is not the guy we were dealing with immediately following Halloween," said Travis. "He's changed. I can't say more than that, but, he's running some sort of plan that I only know scratch about."

"Merlin, has he been possessed?" asked Molly.

"Oh God no, nothing like that," answered Travis.

"Has he… gone mental?" asked Hermione, looking up from her seat at the end of the bed.

"No, definitely not that either… I mean, he's changed a bit of his behaviour, but no, definitely not crazy."

"My brothers, sister, and I have met Harry before," said Susan, "although he was much older than he is now. For us, it was about a year ago, at least from where we came from."

"And where exactly IS where you come from?" asked Molly.

"Well, we live near London, but…"

"We come from Narnia," supplied Caspian.

"Narnia? No place I've heard of," said Severus.

"And you wouldn't. There should be no connection to it from any world, at least not without Aslan allowing it. At least that's how I understood it," said Susan. "Harry and his friends put holes in that theory when they visited."

"So perhaps we're dealing with a future Harry… who's come back and taken over his present self," suggested Hermione. "That's the only thing that makes sense to me."

"But why would he do such a thing?" asked Molly.

"Can you think of no other reason?" asked Travis. "I mean, someone wouldn't pull that kind of stunt unless staying was a worse option."

"Then… Voldemort won," said Tonks, darkly.

"I… I don't think it's my story to tell," said Travis. "He did promise to explain things…"

"Travis… does he look like he's in any condition to explain things?" Hermione shouted. "I think we've been patient enough!"

"Hermione, shouting isn't going to help him get better," said Molly.

"No, I would like to be shouting AT him for being so foolish!"

"If anyone's at fault, it's me, for suggesting the idea."

"Do tell, what idea might that be?" asked Severus.

"I thought destroying a Horcrux near the enemy would be demoralizing, you know, instil fear and so on…"

"And what enemy is that?"

"My uncle and his army," answered Caspian.

"They are afraid of magic. So we thought we would play on that a little," continued Travis. "I don't know why Harry didn't better shield himself when he pierced the ring with the Basilisk fang."

"What ring?"

"He had Deric and a few of his men retrieve it earlier today. He didn't say any more, other than it was a Horcrux. It definitely screamed when it blew up."

"A Horcrux?" asked Molly.

"You don't know what it is?"

"Most disturbing," said Severus. "The Dark Lord has created Horcruxes?"

"Six or seven of them, so Harry says."

"A Horcrux… what is that?" asked Caspian.

"Created as a means to immortality, but requires a truly evil act to create it… Murder," explained Travis. "The witch or wizard picks an item to serve as the container, and although I don't know the incantation—and I really DON'T want to know—they then kill someone."

"And this wizard… he has done it seven times?" asked Caspian.

"Six or seven, yes. I have faced him… it's not something you forget, ever. He's the stuff of nightmares," said Travis. Caspian noticed that he was actually trembling as he finished the explanation. Travis sat down in a seat heavily, putting his head in his hands. It had been a disaster. That was all there was to it. His being 'clever' may have just cost the wizarding world… and possibly Narnia… dearly.

oOo

It was the early hours of the following morning. Frank had not moved an inch since taking a seat beside Harry's bed, and now slept in that awkward position, holding Harry's hand in a death grip. Most of the others had retreated to other parts of the trunk, trying to get some sleep.

Travis had stayed as well, having conjured up a few, more comfortable seats for himself and others who had stayed behind, which included Susan and Caspian. The young prince had removed his armour, and it now rested beside the seat he was in. He had his legs propped up on an ottoman Travis had also transfigured, and was dozing lightly.

Travis himself could not sleep, but instead switched between sitting restlessly in a seat of his own, or pacing the floor. Things kept running over in his mind. How could they have done different? Why didn't Harry better protect himself? Surely he was aware of what the ring would do when destroyed, right? So once again, why didn't Harry protect himself? It didn't make any sense!

"Harry?" whispered Frank, lifting his head, and jostling his hand. "Harry?!" Suddenly, a horrible scream echoed throughout the room. It was almost matched by the cry Frank let out, as a wisp of black smoke lifted from the scar on Harry's forehead. Caspian actually leapt to his feet, sword instinctually drawn, from the noise; the past few days had made him an incredibly light sleeper. Travis, who happened to be pacing at the time, dropped to his knees. 'I've killed him,' was all he could think.

oOo

Harry found himself in the throne room at Cair Paravel, at least as he remembered it. It was not the ruins he had walked about earlier in the day. It was intact, other than the fact that the room was empty.

"Hello, son." Harry spun around to find his parents walking toward him from the back of the room.

"Mum, Dad? What are YOU doing here?"

"We came to see you, dear," said Lily. "You have no idea of how proud we are of you."

"Someone else is here to see you, too," said James. On cue, Cedric stepped out from an alcove on the side of the room.

"Hi, mate."

"Cedric. Why… why am I here… what…"

"Here is what your spirit and your mind thought was the ideal neutral site. A place you've had a great amount of joy, and very little hurt. A place you have made more than a few friends, but no enemies."

"Narnia."

"Yes," answered Cedric.

"But am I dead?"

"A very good question, son," said James. "Looking at the whole picture, I don't think so."

"So it worked, then."

"You're a smart man, Harry, you tell me," said Cedric.

"Well… I did hear a faint cry or scream, just before… well…"

"So it is not you that has died, Harry," said James.

"Then I'm no longer a Horcrux. That's great… great." A wave of guilt suddenly washed over him. He had been able to get rid of the foul piece of Voldemort's soul, but what had it cost him? The last time he had done it, he had simply turned his holly wand on himself, and cast the Avada Kedavra curse, focusing the hate he had for the Dark Lord.

This time, he had made it look like an accident, as risky as it had been. There was no way his friends were going to let him cast the killing curse on himself, no matter WHAT excuse he gave; this was the only solution he could come up with. He knew that Peter had been injured by the explosion; he only hoped that his friend from Narnia had not been dosed with Basilisk venom.

"Harry?" He broke out of his thoughts, looking at Cedric. "You are such a beautiful man. You take care of yourself."

"I guess… this is good bye, again, then," Harry guessed.

"Not forever, sweetheart. You will see us again, although I do hope it is when you have lived a long and healthy life, young man."

"I plan on it, Mum." He wrapped his arms around Lily, giving her a strong hug. He did the same with James, steeling himself against the emotions once again threatening to overrun him.

"And Harry," said Cedric, "when are you and Frank gonna make it official?"

"Very soon. Now that this," Harry gestured to his scar, "isn't an issue, I'll make that a priority."

"You take care of yourself, Harry," said Cedric, enveloping Harry in a hug. "I will always love you."

"And I will always love you, Ced. No matter how much I love Frankie, you're always in my heart," said Harry, his voice trailing off. The scene faded away, with his parents and Cedric waving at him.

oOo

The trunk was in chaos. Frank would not budge from the side of the bed, still holding Harry's hand in a death grip. Hermione and Ron held each other, both openly weeping. The rest of the Weasleys gathered off to the side, shedding tears of their own; they had seen Harry as one of their own.

Travis was beside himself, and although he did not shed tears, he was overcome with grief. He looked ready to murder someone—or destroy something. No, for Travis, it was easier to show anger than to cry.

Alastor, Remus, Tonks, Severus, and several other members of the Order were off to the side, discussing the situation informally. The worst-case-scenario had just happened. The question now was, well, what now? Remus had already notified Minerva; she had already arrived, and was in the holding cells, speaking with Albus about the situation.

Caspian felt like a fish out of water. His larger concern was for Peter, even though they did not exactly see eye-to-eye on certain issues. Importantly, Peter was High King of Narnia. With the death of Harry, it was quite possible that Peter might follow, for he was no wizard. "Susan," he said. "Perhaps… if Lucy were to bring her cordial…"

"I don't know if we can… we can't take things out of Narnia," answered Susan, looking up from her vigil at Peter's side.

"I am here, am I not?"

"So you are. If… you would not mind… I would rather not… leave Peter," answered Susan. Caspian only nodded and slipped out of the room. He almost ran into a tall witch wearing emerald green robes and an elderly wizard wearing midnight blue robes. The wizard somewhat reminded him of Professor Cornelius, although much taller.

"S-sorry."

"No need to apologize," said the wizard. Caspian only nodded and quickly activated the teleport pad.

"Harry has been busy, I do say, Minerva."

"Indeed, he has, Albus. Although now, it may all be for naught," said Minerva, sadly.

"And he was poisoned while destroying one of Tom's Horcruxes?"

"He's destroyed two of them already." She indicated Hufflepuff's cup, which rested on the mantle of the private floo. Albus let out a gasp seeing it. "From what Travis said earlier, he was able to destroy the third before it exploded. It shattered the Basilisk fang Harry was holding, embedding pieces of it in his face and hands." She drew a deep breath. "What are we to do now, Albus?"

"Had he only…"

"Albus! Now is not the time for that rhetoric!" Minerva hissed. "We need your help, not reminders of your manipulations!"

Stepping into the room, they found not sadness, such was the case a short while ago, but a great sense of relief. At least for most of the people there. Susan was still gravely concerned for her brother, who still lay unconscious.

Harry, however, only seemed to be asleep, with Frank having climbed into bed with him, much to Madam Pomfrey's protests, as it seemed.

"I was with the understanding Harry had died," said Minerva, "although I am pleased to find that not the case."

"He… he just… started breathing again," said Ron, relief easily readable on his face.

"How is he, Poppy?" asked Albus.

"Stabilized, and…" She pursed her lips. "Resting more than comfortably."

"Indeed, he appears to be," said Albus, the twinkle returning to his piercing blue eyes with a vengeance.

"Who… let you out of your cell?" asked Travis, darkly.

"I did, Mr. Carter," said Minerva. "Given the circumstances."

"Oh." Just then, the door opened, and Caspian re-entered the room, along with Lucy, whom most in the room did not know. They were quickly followed by Deric, who looked concerned.

"What… I was told Harry died," said Deric.

"It appears, as though that is not the case, Deric," said Albus.

"Indeed."

"But… how?" Caspian was confused.

"The Boy-Who-Lived… twice," whispered Ron.

"Don't let Harry hear you say that," said Hermione, still sounding very choked up from that morning's rollercoaster ride of emotions.

"Lucy…" began Susan.

"Is he all right?" asked Lucy, seeing her brother. She joined her sister beside his bed, and quickly pulled out her bottle containing the cordial.

"What, might I ask, is that?" asked Madam Pomfrey.

"Father Christmas gave this to me," answered the youngest of the Pevensie siblings. "One drop will cure any injury."

"I have never heard of any such cure-all," Severus drawled.

"Nor have I, young lady," said Madam Pomfrey. "I will be most interested, should it actually work. Your brother is in very serious condition." Lucy only smiled, but uncapped the bottle containing the cordial and allowed a single drop to fall into Peter's slightly opened mouth.

Both Severus and the medi-witch were amazed as Peter let out a gasp and slowly opened his eyes. "Susan?" he managed. "Lucy? Where… where am I?" He tried to sit up, but Madam Pomfrey put a hand on his chest.

"No you don't, young man. Not until I check you over."

"Miss Pevensie… might I get a sample of the potion you have there?" asked Severus.

"I was about to ask the same thing," said Madam Pomfrey.

"I strongly doubt you will be able to synthesize it, if that's what you're planning, Severus. That stuff's not from our world," said Travis.

"Write it up to academics, then," said Madam Pomfrey, conjuring up two vials. Lucy obliged, donating four drops of the cordial to both vials.

"What of Harry?" asked Peter.

"He's had a rough night, Mr. Pevensie," said Madam Pomfrey, at last concluding her diagnostic charms. "I think I can clear you to leave, although I am astounded at how well the potion worked."

"Lucy's cordial," stated Peter. Lucy nodded. "Well, it did save Edmund last year."

"Now. I must insist that everyone not essential to the remaining patient please take your conversations elsewhere," said Madam Pomfrey.

"Let's go to the library. Mr. Pevensie, is it?" asked Remus. Peter nodded. "Would you care to join us?"

"I think there are some things that must come out," said Remus, as the group finally settled around the large conference table in the library. Peter and his siblings had settled at one end, along with Travis; Caspian was more interested in the large computer workstation on the right side of the library than the actual meeting. That got a smile from Hermione.

"I would agree with that," said Minerva. "It seems Mr. Potter has kept a good number of us in the dark regarding his activities of late."

"Please, professor, it was all with good reason," said Travis. "Even I don't know exactly what he's up to."

"And exactly who are you anyway?" Minerva gestured to the Pevensies.

"I'm Peter Pevensie. My sisters, Susan and Lucy."

"And where exactly are you from?"

"We're originally from Finchley, ma'am," answered Peter, "but we came here from a place called Narnia, although I strongly doubt any of you have heard of it before." Peter decided to leave out his titles, not sure of what weight they would carry in such a strange environment.

"Finchley… just outside of London, is it not?" said Sirius, from his portrait above the computer. Caspian let out a gasp, not having seen a talking portrait before.

"Yes sir," said Peter, seeming not at all fazed by the talking portrait.

"First time seeing a talking portrait, lad?" asked Alastor, gesturing to Caspian.

"Y-yes."

"And who might you be, dear?" asked Molly. She and Arthur were seated close to one another, still rattled by that morning's events."

"I am Prince Caspian."

"Of Narnia, I assume?" asked Minerva. Caspian only nodded.

"Exactly what has Harry done? I must ask," said Albus.

"Yesterday afternoon… Harry opened a dimensional portal into Narnia," answered Deric, "A few of us knew exactly what he was doing, but he has asked us not to discuss any of it, because, 'loose lips sink ships', his words exactly."

"How much CAN you tell us?"

"Not much else, really, it's up to Harry," answered Travis. Deric only nodded.

"Actions befitting a Slytherin, Albus, I must say," said Alastor. A smiled tugged at the corner of Severus' lips.

"Yes, well, it most certainly is no help to us at all. Worse off, this morning's incident reminds us of just how dangerous things can be."

"He has destroyed three Horcruxes, has he not?" asked Albus.

"The last almost taking his life, but yes," answered Deric. "I witnessed the destruction of the one in Hufflepuff's cup a while back."

"How many does Harry believe Tom made?" asked Albus.

"Six or seven," said Deric.

"Last time we met Harry, he said there were seven of them," supplied Susan.

"Wait. Did anyone notice the scream that seemed to let out of Harry before he, um, well, died?" asked Travis.

"I thought it was Frank," said Ron.

"No, Ron, it wasn't," said Hermione. "Travis is right, there was a scream…"

"Exactly like the scream that came out of Hufflepuff's cup," finished Travis. "He was a Horcrux."

"You mean Harry had a piece of Voldemort's soul in him?!" Hermione was horrified.

"I mean exactly that, Hermione," answered Travis. "It's the only explanation."

"Does he know where the others are?" asked Minerva.

"I think so," answered Deric, "He sent us to retrieve one of them yesterday, the ring."

"It might be a thought to have Harry put down some sort of plan of action, in the event he truly does die, so we may at least attempt to finish what he has started," said Tonks.

"Well on the way to finishing, by the sound of things," said Alastor.

"It seems Harry has been VERY busy in my stead," said Albus.

"Complacency has gotten us nowhere, Albus," said Arthur. "Sitting on our arses waiting for something to happen. How much did you know about his Horcruxes?"

"I knew he made at least one; that became clear three and a half years ago, when Harry destroyed Tom's diary in the Chamber of Secrets."

"Yes, Harry talked to me about that," said Peter. "A truly dark incident at your school, headmaster."

"Most unfortunate…"

"I do ask… how did you not know there was a monster roaming around under your school, endangering the lives of hundreds of your students?" Clearly, even Peter was not impressed with the former headmaster's blunders.

"What… what sort of monster?" asked Caspian.

"A 60-foot Basilisk," answered Ron weakly. "I saw one of its shed skins."

"Indeed, Mr. Weasley," said Severus.

"You mean… the thing whose venom almost killed Harry," said Caspian.

"One and the same," answered Severus.

"I must ask, do any of you know the reason Harry has decided to do something so risky as to forcibly open a portal to another world?" asked Albus.

"Might as well tell him what you know," said Travis. "He'll find out anyway."

"When Harry visited us the first time, they arrived in three enormous flying ships," Peter began. "During their visit, one of the crew on the Invincible sabotaged their, err, computer. She crashed, killing about 400 of her crew. The saboteur was discovered to have a… dark mark… tattooed on his arm."

"And he's located this ship again, in Narnia?" asked Albus.

"We were working on it before the sun set; then we went out to deal with the Horcrux. It was my idea, thought it would scare the enemy…"

"Which brings us to our fight, I guess," said Peter, looking around the table. "I don't know many of you that sit here, but I do know Harry, at least well enough to call him a friend… and more importantly, to ask his help."

"And he accepted," said Travis.

"Help with what?" asked Arthur.

"Freeing Narnia from the Telmarines," answered Lucy smartly.

"My uncle is mobilizing his army against us as we speak," said Caspian. "They will have most likely reached Aslan's How by now."

"And they will find nothing," said Peter. "With Harry's help, we have perhaps bought ourselves a couple of days."

"Last night, Harry, Peter, and I destroyed a Horcrux not far from where the Telmarines had set up camp for the night," explained Travis. "I still don't understand why Harry didn't protect himself better, he had to know the ring was dangerous… and now, if our assumptions are correct, he DID know…"

"Wait… then, that would mean… he did this on PURPOSE!" Hermione gasped.

"To destroy the other… Horcrux, perhaps?" guessed Caspian.

"But… WHY? He practically DIED!" Hermione shrieked. "What in Merlin's name was he THINKING?"

"I think that was part of the plan, Hermione," said Deric. "He would have to just about die for the fragment of soul to be destroyed."

"And as valiant as his efforts have been, it again shows why Harry must be properly guided. Allowing him to just run off and make decisions on his own…"

Travis cut Albus off, saying, "Is giving him the CONFIDENCE he needs to actually FINISH the job. Don't even START with your coddling and protecting rhetoric, Dumbledore, I'll hex you where you sit, and don't think I WON'T."

"And I will follow suit, Albus. I only let you out of your cell because we were out of options," said Minerva.

"I think we could allow the professor out of his cage, with some hard and fast rules, maybe," said Deric.

"I am curious as to why he would be locked in a cage," said Caspian.

"I…" Albus started.

"He has grossly used and manipulated Harry, stolen from him, stolen his childhood… was directly responsible for him being abused at the hands of his aunt and uncle… shall I go on, Professor? By rights, he should be in jail, but… Harry doesn't trust the ministry, so we've made our own," explained Travis bluntly.

"Yes, Harry told me about that, I remember," said Peter. "Most disturbing that a wizard in your position would do such a thing, Professor."

"That's just the thing. Which is why he is no longer in the position he was," said Minerva. "The Hogwarts Board of Trustees was none too happy about the allegations. It has certainly put me in a difficult position, but yet, Hogwarts does have a standard to uphold."

"So. Here are the rules, Dumbledore…" began Travis.

"And who decided you should make them?" asked Albus, clearly not impressed that some foreign boy was going to dictate terms to him.

"Who did Harry hook up with when he first came to Canada?"

"Still…"

"Shut it," Travis hissed. "Our trunk, OUR rules. ONE. You will not be leaving the trunk… I mean, you can't anyway… Harry didn't key you into the teleport pads… and I really don't think he will anytime soon.

"TWO. You will not attempt to manipulate or control any of us in any way. Whether it be yourself or… well… I think I made the point there, right? Anyone else have anything to add?" Silence. "Great. Of course, I think it will be up to Harry in the end, because, I think it will be a cold day in hell before he'll ever forgive you for what you did to him."

"I think we can still use a bit of help with the order, but be very much aware, Albus, you are NOT in control here. Harry and I are," said Remus.

"Harry, in charge?"

"Whose trunk is this, Albus?" asked Minerva. Albus only nodded in understanding.

"Where exactly are we?"

"I don't know, Narnia, for all we know. Harry could've moved the trunk."

"Excuse me, but you've completely lost me here," said Caspian.

"It's wizard space," answered Travis. "We are, in fact, inside a magical trunk, which belongs to Harry. Maybe when he's feeling better, we can take you guys outside of it. But again, I don't actually know where we are." In truth, Travis knew EXACTLY where the trunk was, but chose to keep the former headmaster guessing.

"So we're back to the issue of Narnia, then," said Deric.

"Yes, right," said Peter. "And that really now depends on Harry getting the Invincible back in the air again."

"It won't happen with Harry on his back," said Deric. "Most likely Madam Pomfrey will keep him under watch for a few days."

"A few days we don't have," said Caspian. Peter nodded in agreement.

"What if Harry just tells us what needs to be done, and WE do it?" suggested Ron.

"That could work, but it'll really be up to him, I guess. Knowing Harry these days, he won't listen to Madam Pomfrey too much anyway," said Travis.

"So it'll be your responsibility… all of you… to make sure he doesn't overdo it. We must remember, he practically DIED this morning," Molly emphasized.

"That may be difficult, considering the crazy number of doors that have been locked using parseltongue," said Travis.

"You mean that hissing noise he makes?" asked Peter. "That still gives me the creeps."

"No doubt it does, Mr. Pevensie," said Minerva.

"He's using parseltongue?" Albus sounded surprised.

"He told me it was an extra layer of security he put on things when they sealed it up just before they left," said Travis. "Pretty clever, if you ask me… I mean, parseltongue is incredibly rare."

"Indeed it is, Mr. Carter," said Albus sourly. 'No, this is most certainly not a good thing,' he thought. He looked over at Lucy, who let out a great yawn. "Perhaps we might catch a few hours' rest, considering the very late hour." He gestured up at the digital clock above the door. It was nearly four am.

"This is going to be a long day," Remus groaned. It was almost time for him to floo to Hogwarts. It might be a weekend, but there were still certain duties expected of the professors.

"Right… sleeping arrangements," said Travis.

"I can just… use the bed in the infirmary where Harry is, for now," said Peter. Travis nodded.

"Susan and Lucy… you two can borrow Harry and Frank's bed, I'm sure they won't mind. And Caspian… if you don't mind sharing my bed… um… well… I mean, I can just sleep on the floor if worst comes to worst… not really interested in doing any advanced magic right now…"

"That will be fine," answered the prince.

"Great. Follow me, then…"

oOo

Travis woke only a few short hours later, the sun casting its rays on the floor of the room, through the partially open curtains. It had been a strange sleep, for, even though someone lay beside him, there was no connection. It was very different from sleeping beside Frank and Harry. Caspian was a complete stranger, and very much kept to himself, much as Travis had. He sighed, quite happy to slide down and off the end of the bed (he had slept on the inside, against the wall), and take a seat at his desk.

Now, he got his first real good look at the young Telmar prince. 'Definitely handsome', thought Travis, remembering the dark eyes that matched his dark hair, which was then splayed out on the pillow as he slept. That quickly brought back memories of Bill, sleeping in a similar way, his hair released from its usual pony-tail. That forced him to look away, as the memory stung harshly.

He was yanked out of the nasty train of thought, when Dobby popped into the room. "Travis, sir, breakfast is being ready now, it is!"

"Thank you, Dobby."

"Err, what was that?" asked Caspian sleepily. He looked over, and gasped, seeing the house elf. "What… what is that?" he stammered.

"This is Dobby, a house elf. Dobby, this is Caspian."

"It is great honour, meeting friends of wizards, it is!" said Dobby excitedly.

"Dobby. Remember what Harry said about that," said Travis. Dobby only nodded and popped away.

"They just… come and go like that?"

"Yeah, that's how they do their work. They do most of the cooking and cleaning here. Legally, he belongs to Harry, but Harry sees them more like friends."

"They are slaves."

"In many places, yeah, they are. Harry pays the two elves he's got here, though, and treats them… well, like I said, more like friends than employees." He paused. "Now. If you want to take a shower…"

"Shower?"

"Oh. Bathe, wash up, get cleaned up."

"Right."

"The bathroom is through that door. Shout if you're unsure of anything." Travis gestured to a door beside the closet.

It actually ended up slightly comical, as Travis ended up having to explain the marvels of modern plumbing to the prince. He had completely forgotten that people or beings from Narnia would have no concept of modern conveniences, such as toilets or showers.

Finally, the two of them made it to the dining room, which was by then quite noisy, as many people had remained in the trunk. Four more strangers were seated at the table. At least to Caspian, they were strangers.

"We've got cereal, toast, eggs, bacon, sausages, and my favourite, pancakes," said Travis, gesturing to the various items that sat at the centre of the table.

"A breakfast befitting a king," Caspian smiled, fetching several pieces of toast. He added two eggs, a few strips of bacon, and a pancake.

"Maple syrup?" Travis gestured to the bottle.

"Please."

"Well, we DO seem to be joined by royalty this morning." Hermione smirked.

"Touché", said Travis, giving a smirk of his own.

"I hope this was not on our account," said Peter.

"Actually, no, Mr. Pevensie," said Lisa. "This is about typical for breakfast in our household."

"This must cost a fortune, how do you afford it?" asked Susan.

"That would be Harry's doing," said Lisa. "For him, money is no object."

"I do hope Harry is being responsible with it," said Albus.

"Why would you be worried about it? It's not YOUR say what he does with it," Travis snapped.

"Indeed it is not, yet…"

"Yet nothing, Dumbledore! If he decides to blow every knut on stupid things, that's his fucking right!"

"All right, enough talk about that," said Lisa, pursing her lips.

"Ok, changing the subject, then. We're all in agreement that Harry has to stay off his feet at least today?"

"Other than opening doors for us," Deric reminded.

"Right, shit. Forgot about that."

"What needs to be opened right away is the big question. Can we get anything going without?" asked Peter.

"See, I don't know," answered Travis. "That's all Harry's thing. I know absolutely dick all about the Invincible, God, you know I got lost twice yesterday afternoon."

"Maybe there's engineering plans or something," suggested Deric.

"Yeah, probably behind one of those zillion or so locked doors," Travis groaned.

"Couldn't we just break into it?" asked Caspian.

"I think you can probably answer your own question," said Peter sourly, "considering it was your ancestors that sacked Cair Paravel in the first place."

"Guys," said Travis, "now's not the time. I guess we have to talk to Harry before we do anything. That's what it comes down to."

As soon as breakfast was finished, Travis, Peter, and Caspian entered the makeshift infirmary. Travis was pleased to find both Harry and Frank awake, engaged in idle chatter.

"Travis, Peter. Glad to see you're all right," said Harry.

"You might want to watch out for Hermione, she's pissed at what you did," said Travis.

"What do you mean?"

"Oh get off it, Harry, we KNOW what you did… I mean, I know you have more brains than to break… err… AAAAARRRRH! You fucking KNOW what I mean, man! You came back from the fucking future, so you knew what that fucking ring was gonna do when it was attacked."

"Harry… you… you didn't," said Frank, hurt written all over his face.

"I did," answered Harry quietly.

"Why? Why would you do that to me? After you giving me shit for acting stupid the end of last month. How dare you," Frank said icily.

"But… I'm sorry."

"Right, sure," said Frank, pushing Harry away and getting out of the bed.

"No, I'm… I…"

"Fuck you, Harry." Frank stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

"If you had kept your bloody mouth shut, he wouldn't have known," Harry hissed.

"Right, that's great for a healthy relationship, Harry. Jesus Christ, you go on about people keeping secrets from you? Don't piss and moan when others get upset at you keeping secrets from them, that's a load of fucking hypocrisy!"

"No, you need to mind your own fucking business, Carter!" Harry snarled.

"Uh huh…" Travis flicked his wrist, producing his wand. "Pevensie, Caspian," he hissed, "if you value your life, you'll get the fuck out of here."

* * *

_**AUTHOR NOTES**__: Hmmm… it seems someone has anger issues. Harry might have gotten rid of 2 more Horcruxes, but seems to lack a little tact with dealing with those who care about him._

_Now… as far as Frank's reaction. If you had read "Canadian Intervention", you'll remember a point where Frank forced Harry to promise never to try and hurt himself again. I won't cite verbatim here, you'll just have to read & find out. All the same, this action destroying the Horcrux, Frank sees it as Harry hurting himself again, which of course would be breaking his promise._

_Anyhow… comments/suggestions are always welcome._


	6. Invincible Awakens

_Caution: Coarse language (do I really need to say it at this point?)_

* * *

**6: INVINCIBLE AWAKENS**

Caspian had just cleared the doors when there was a loud explosion that practically shook the floor. It was followed by several lesser ones.

"Mr. Pevensie, what… what are they doing in there?" asked Molly.

"Fighting," answered Peter, with a shrug. A loud crash, with the shattering of glass instantly followed.

"Oh dear…" Molly went to burst into the room, but both Peter and Caspian restrained her.

"No, let them work it out," said Peter. "I think they both have some issues that need to be let out."

"But… they could do each other serious injury!" Molly exclaimed.

"What in Merlin's name…" said Alastor, appearing from the library. He only took one glance at the doors into the Room of Requirement and understood at once. "Right, then. I would assume Potter and Carter followed my advice this time?"

"What advice?" asked Peter.

"They had an altercation a while back in which they both proceeded to destroy the dining room."

"And… they fight like this often?" asked Caspian.

"Not until recently," answered Molly, her features seeming to darken. "He loved my eldest boy, William. He was killed… by He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named… on Halloween." She had to take several breaths to continue. "Travis has been in a right state since."

"Ah, the picture comes a little clearer," said Peter. Yet another crash reverberated throughout the room.

"But, might they kill one another?" asked Caspian. It was then the twins appeared with two distinct POPs, making the young prince jump.

"We heard…" said Fred.

"…Several explosions up here," George finished. Right on cue, another loud crash came from behind the closed doors.

"Forge, it appears as though someone might be having more fun than we are."

"Right you are, Gred."

"Both of you… you will not be going in there," said Alastor. "Potter and Carter seem to have an issue with one another at the moment, and it's best it be worked out."

It suddenly grew quiet. At first, no one moved, as they could not be certain as to what had happened. However, after several minutes, Alastor finally dared open the door to the room a crack.

The room was in shambles. Not a scrap of furniture was intact, and the walls were marked with scorch marks from the number of angry curses that had flown from the two young wizards. Said wizards were sitting on the floor in the middle of the room, hugging each other tightly.

"Well, Alastor, are they all right?" prodded Molly.

"They are just fine, Molly," answered Alastor. "It seems the room and its contents took the brunt of their curses." A smile tugged at the corner of the old Auror's lips.

"I don't see what might possibly be funny, Alastor, they could have injured each other quite severely."

"And what would you have them do, Mrs. Weasley?" asked Peter. "Forbid them from doing it, and end up with something far more serious? I have not seen Harry kill, but he is most certainly capable of it, for he has told me numerous stories of such. You must not underestimate him."

"He wouldn't kill Travis, would he?"

"I don't know. I don't know Travis at all… I mean, Harry said he had been killed not long before they met us."

"I must ask- does anyone know how this got started?" asked Molly.

"Mr. Cordell found out what happened this morning was done on purpose," answered Peter. "He was not very happy about it. He left the room, Harry laid into Travis, and it escalated from there."

"And it would appear Frank has a good reason to be angry at Harry," said Molly, quite aware of the promise Harry had made not to try and harm himself again. Just then, Edmund appeared on the teleport pad.

"What's taking you all so long?" he prodded.

"Hold it, Ed, we have had a situation," said Peter.

"What KIND of situation, we don't have time for this."

"Harry and Travis almost killed each other."

"Oh."

"'Oh' is right. We'll be there in a few moments," said Peter. Edmund only shrugged, touched the teleport panel, and vanished. "Ed's right, we cannot wait much longer."

"I do believe it is safe to go in," said Alastor. Peter nodded, and stepped into the room, only slightly surprised to see the two teens still hugging each other.

"Err… Harry?"

"What… Oh, Peter." Harry and Travis separated and scrambled to their feet.

"We really need to get going."

"Right, yes," said Travis.

"Are you guys all right?"

"Nothing a couple of healing charms didn't straighten out," answered Harry.

"And… you two are all right with each other?"

"Oh yeah… we have agreed we actually need to do this more frequently," said Travis. Peter arched an eyebrow.

"To actually curse each other?"

"Yeah, exactly. A duel is a proper term, but you… summed it up about right."

"What about Frank?"

"I will talk to him later," answered Harry, as they left the room. "I know he's pissed with me, and I guess I don't blame him."

Less than a minute later, Harry, Travis, Peter, his siblings, Caspian, Deric, Alastor, and the twins stood under a large canopy that had been set up on the beach near the Invincible's bow. Ron and Hermione were meeting with Glenstorm and some of the centaurs, who had moved above the bluff.

"Right, then. Harry, we need you to only open doors for us. Everything else, we will do it, you just take it easy," said Travis.

"I'm fine, I can help with this…" began Harry.

"No you don't. I heard what Madam Pomfrey said, and had you and Travis not destroyed the room, you would more than likely still be there," said Alastor.

"Fine." Harry was not impressed with the restrictions. This was HIS project, after all.

"What we need first are engineering plans," said Travis. "There has to be…"

"They would be in where the computer's core is… and it's most definitely locked."

"I guess that's where we're going first," said Travis. "Care to show me exactly where? I can apparate us there." Harry only nodded.

"Ready?"

"Ready," answered Travis. Harry quickly planted the memory of the room's location in his mind.

"All right, let's go," said Travis. Harry gripped Travis' shoulder, and they vanished with a noisy CRACK.

They appeared just outside a large and imposing steel door.

"Once we get Invincible operational, not just anyone will be able to apparate on board," said Harry. He paused, then placed a hand on the door, and hissed, "Open." There were eight distinct clunks, and the door seemed to split into two pieces, which then slid into the wall. An eerie blue-glow emanated from inside. "Merlin's beard! I forgot about those!" Harry exclaimed, about to take a step into the room. Travis gripped the back of his shirt, stopping him.

"What?"

"No, No! It's not dangerous! It's… when the computer went spare, one of the memory crystals exploded, trapping several people in it… when we left, we thought they had been petrified! Like a strong Petrificus Totalus charm. Of course, with such limited magical cores, we couldn't re-awaken them." Harry dragged Travis into the room, and both drew their wands.

"They all worked on the Invincible?"

"Well, except for one… oh, Lucy is going to be in a right state!"

"Why…" Travis didn't finish, seeing the trapped individuals, one of which was a faun. Travis produced his wand. "FINITE…"

"NO! Not in here, we could do further damage to the computer… bring them out one at a time, we'll awaken them out in the corridor," said Harry. Travis only nodded, and levitated the faun out into the corridor.

"Here is all right?"

"Yeah."

"Great." Travis again raised his wand. "Finite Incantatem."

Both watched, as the faun's eyes blinked open. "My goodness, what am I doing on the… Mr. Potter?"

"Yes, it's me, Mr. Tumnus."

"But, how did… you were much older only a few…"

"I'm afraid a few things have changed," said Harry, offering a hand, and helping the faun to his feet.

"What… how… and who are you, son of Adam?"

"Travis. Travis Carter."

"It is an honour to meet you."

"Likewise… all right, look. Not to be an ass, but we need to get rolling here."

"We've had an incident, Mr. Tumnus," said Harry, as they stepped back into the room, indicating the other petrified people. Mr. Tumnus stared wide-eyed at the group.

"Yes, I remember, I had been asked to take… oh my, I seem to have misplaced it…"

"Don't worry about it, whatever you were doing does not matter now," answered Harry, as Travis manipulated yet another petrified individual out of the room. Harry followed suit.

"Harry, you will really need to explain EVERYTHING now, with these people, you know people will ask questions of them, and they won't have any issue answering them," said Travis.

"I know. Thing is, as you said earlier, we do need to get Invincible up and running again. Too many people depend on it."

"What has happened to her?" asked Mr. Tumnus.

"Someone sabotaged her computer. She crashed, and you, along with the others in this room, were petrified. If there is a silver lining in all this, it's that fact. Particularly now that we can wake you all up."

"Using magic does not hurt you anymore?"

"No, Mr. Tumnus." He gestured to one of the petrified individuals with his wand. "Finite Incantatem."

"General Potter… how…" began the now un-petrified individual, looking up at Harry.

"It's just Harry, now… err… Owen Ward, is it?" asked Harry. Owen nodded, quickly climbing to his feet.

"Oh, this is perfect! You're chief engineer, right?"

"I am… err… sir, what's going on?" asked Owen.

"We were sabotaged, and I'm going to need all the help I can get to restart the Invincible."

"Stone cold, sir?"

"Stone cold," answered Harry. He gestured to Travis. "One of my best friends, Travis Carter."

"Hi," greeted Travis.

"Pleasure," said Owen, "General Potter told me much about you…"

"Owen. It's just Harry, now. And we don't have time to talk about that kind of thing."

"Can you do magic at all?" asked Travis.

"Oh God, I wish. Only a muggle, I'm afraid," answered Owen.

"Muggles serving on a magical ship?" Travis was confused.

"Later," said Harry, "Let's get the rest of these people un-petrified."

The rest of the people turned out to be programmers, of which only three were magical: two wizards and a single witch. Quickly, Harry opened up the large filing cabinet off to one side of the room, pulling out a stack of drawings. He made a gesture at it with his wand, saying, "Planto Effingo." A second copy of the plans appeared beside the first, then, since there was no room on the table, they slid off the end and scattered across the floor.

"Shit," Harry groaned, gesturing again with his wand. The papers collected themselves neatly. All the while, Mr. Tumnus watched with rapt fascination. He had certainly seen Harry and other wizards cast magic, but not effortlessly as was now the case. Most of the time, when they cast magic, they would be left tremendously weakened, and would need to down several replenishing potions or the like.

"All right, guys, let's get back down to the beach."

"We are still at Cair Paravel?" asked Mr. Tumnus.

"I warn you, things have changed," said Harry.

"Link arms, everyone."

"What for?" asked Mr. Tumnus.

"You have not apparated before?"

"We stopped doing that a few years ago, Mr. Carter," said Owen.

"Oh. Well, grab on, that's exactly what we're about to do."

"And I will say it again; things HAVE changed since you last remember it."

"What of the kings and queens?"

"They are waiting on the beach," answered Harry. Mr. Tumnus only nodded, then grabbed onto Travis' shoulder. The rest of the group daisy-chained themselves to Travis, who then nodded, and everyone vanished with a noisy CRACK.

"Harry? Where did…" began Deric.

"Mr. Tumnus!" exclaimed Lucy, seeing her first friend from Narnia once again.

"Lucy! My… you have changed somewhat since last I saw you," said the faun.

"You… you haven't changed a bit."

"You mean to say… these people have been… inside the ship… for 1300 years?" Caspian was confused.

"Petrified," said Travis, "although even I'm a little confused with that one."

"Simple," said the only witch in the group. "The memory banks work from focus crystals charmed with small stasis charms. Except that there are millions of those inside. From the blue glow in the computer room, I would guess one of them blew up. If that's the case, we were struck with a strong stasis charm. It would work indefinitely."

"Yeah, I'd agree with that," said Travis. "Some of the shit the Muggle Technology department in the ministry is working on runs along those lines. They don't have any working prototype just yet… so the computers on the Invincible are using that."

"Absolutely."

"Guys, look. We can talk shop later," said Deric. "Harry… did you get the plans?"

"Yeah." He passed Deric the copy of the plans.

"So we're dealing with a cold start, I gather," said Owen.

"Yes."

"We'll need external electricity to run the compressor."

"Already dug it out," said Travis, gesturing to the entrance to the cave. Although there were numerous Narnian soldiers milling about, Owen could see it quite plainly.

"Great. We'll need to move that up to the rear access, where the external plugs are."

"What do you need air for?" asked Travis.

"The boilers," answered Owen, "We need compressed air…"

"For the draught?"

"Yep. We also need power for the coal crusher. It crushes the coal into a powder…"

"Really? Coal powered?" Travis was surprised. "Look. I can probably help get steam up… I mean, my dad is a steam freak, works around boilers and shit as it is… so I know a few things."

"Great. I'll leave you to that, then. You'll probably need a few hands to get things going initially. I'll need a few wizards to come with me," said Owen, "Harry, you might want to give Travis a copy of the plans so he knows where he's going."

"Yes, right." Harry quickly made another copy of the plans, and passed them to Travis.

"Before we go any further… Harry, maybe we should also get a couple of people in the air, to keep an eye on what the Telmarines are doing," Travis suggested. Harry only nodded.

"I can't, since… well, I'm the only one who can open a number of doors on the ship."

"And why would that be?" asked Owen.

"I used Parseltongue to seal up most of the sensitive areas on the ship before we left."

"Left, yes. Exactly what's happened?"

"Again, we're gonna have to wait for explanations," said Travis. "We do have a bit of a deadline." He gestured to the crowded beach.

"Then let's get to it."

"I'll need a few volunteers," said Travis. "I don't want anyone who's afraid to get their hands dirty."

"I will help," offered Peter.

"No, I need you to go with the scouts," said Harry, "which I need two volunteers for."

"Let us," said George.

"Done. Peter, ride with George, take them to the campsite, and…"

"They will have most likely reached Aslan's How by now," said Peter. "We'll look there first."

"And guys. Stay out of sight."

"We will, Harry," said Fred.

"Then allow me to volunteer," said Edmund.

"If you will allow me," offered Mr. Tumnus.

"And so will I," offered Caspian.

"Great. Harry, if anyone else wants…"

"Here, take a radio." Harry pulled out one of the radios and passed it to Travis. "Use channel three. I'll call you." He also handed a radio to Owen and one to Peter.

"Once we get systems restored, we can patch those into the ship's intercom system," said the lone witch from the group petrified on the ship.

"Yes, right. A lot of things will become useful once we get her up and running again," said Harry.

The boiler room was nothing like Travis imagined. He had seen many pictures from old ships at the turn of the century, depicting a hellish scene of dirt and heat. The Invincible's steam plant was something of true precision. Once he turned the magical lamps on, the room was exceptionally clean—rather surprising considering the ship burned coal.

"Mr. Carter?" the radio squawked.

"Go ahead," Travis spoke into it.

"We're starting the generator. Mr. Carter, the boilers all need to be lit with wood scraps and so on. There should be several bins at the forward end."

"Got it," said Travis, into the radio. As was explained, there was a fairly large bin, with wood scraps, pieces of brush, and other materials useful for starting a fire. A second bin contained a load of coal.

"Mr. Ward… this can't be right. A small bunker of coal… to feed six boilers?" Travis spoke into the radio.

"That's only for getting the fires going, and to establish a bed of coals," the radio squawked. "Once the furnaces get that, let me know, and I'll come down."

"Will do."

"And Mr. Carter?"

"Yup?"

"When speaking on the radios, it's best to end with 'Copy', or 'Roger', so the other end understands."

"Oh. Um, copy."

"Very good. Engineering out." Travis clipped the radio back onto his belt.

"All right… what I need is for everyone to pick a boiler, and put some of this shit here in it…" Travis gestured to the large bin containing the rubbish. Even with the tremendous amount of time passed, the materials were still intact. 'The room must be airtight,' thought Travis. That would mean, then, they would have to open the chimney, or the boiler uptakes.

Quickly, Travis laid a layer of trash into the large furnace belonging to the first boiler. He had helped his father to light the boiler on a steam tractor they helped run on numerous occasions, and so had a pretty good grasp of what he was doing. The only difference was the size.

"There is no way human hands will keep up with a furnace that large," said Caspian.

"No, definitely not… Ah, here we go. Look at this." Travis pointed to two large pipes that rose up the face of the boiler, and bent into it, just below the furnace door.

"What is that?"

"Automatic stoker."

"A what?" asked Edmund.

"It's called an automatic stoker. See, the coal is broken into a dust or powder, and then blown into the furnace with air. I've never seen anything like this… I mean, I know a blast furnace does something like it, but… never heard of a boiler system using it."

"And this produces steam?" guessed Caspian.

"Exactly. Um, look, there's the pressure gauge." Travis gestured to a gauge on the face of the boiler. "Judging by the dial, operating pressure is about 200 pounds per square inch." Just then, a number of electric lights switched on, further lighting the room, as did several indicator lights. There also came the faint sound of a compressor in some distant room.

"All right… here goes nothing." Travis pointed his wand at the rubbish in the furnace, saying, "Incendio!" The materials ignited with a whoosh.

"Mine is ready for lighting," said Mr. Tumnus.

"Perfect." Travis had a look inside his boiler, nodded, and quickly lit it.

Once he had lit all six boilers, he then returned to the first one which he had lit. There was a nice bed of coals formed on the grates, and so he grabbed a shovel full of coal and sprinkled it on top.

"A most peculiar odour," said Caspian.

"It's sulphur."

"I don't understand… if you are able to do magic, why can you not just make steam that way, rather than wasting all this energy?" asked Caspian.

"I don't know the answer to that," answered Travis.

"Casting magic hurt Harry and his wizard friends," answered Mr. Tumnus.

"That would make sense. They would be forced to do a lot of things the muggle way."

Once each boiler had received several shovel-loads of coal, Travis informed Owen the boilers were ready. He had just managed to put the radio away when Owen stepped into the room. "I was next door," he said, seeing the inquisitive expression on Travis' face.

"Right."

"Let's have a look." Owen appeared impressed, seeing all the furnace doors closed, with their front vents open. Just enough for a draught, while preserving the heat inside. An open door would do nothing other than waste heat. "Excellent. Now comes the coal crusher and the blower."

"I was right!" Travis exclaimed. "You blow coal dust into the furnaces."

"We do exactly that. Quite an advanced approach to feeding the furnaces. One man can keep an eye on things down here, and so on," said Owen, as he operated a series of switches at a console. There were a series of thumps and the sound of several motors starting. It sounded like it came from under the floor.

"All right, Mr. Carter. There are two valve wheels on either side of the furnace door…"

"Got it," said Travis.

"Open the furnace door a crack, and then turn both of them clockwise four turns," instructed Owen. Travis did so. There was a hiss, and a short plume of black dust erupted from each pipe, instantly igniting from the flames already in the furnace.

"We have ignition."

"All right. Crank them open all the way, then." Travis nodded, and cranked each valve, in all about ten times each. The flames in the furnace now burned almost white-hot, and the heat was unbearable. Travis actually had to look away as he pushed the furnace door closed.

"The vent… open or closed?"

"Close it. The fire has all the oxygen it needs," answered Owen. "All right, boys, you know how to do the rest, then."

oOo

Harry had only needed to assist three times in the two hours they had been at work. At present, he was sitting under the large canopy they had erected the previous day, studying a book on advanced defensive spells. It was one that covered some questionable tactics, certainly some the British ministry would not be happy about. However, Harry had long ago stopped paying attention to the rhetoric they were spewing; Fudge continued to be an incompetent arse, even AFTER the disaster on October 31st.

"Harry?" he looked up to find Frank standing in front of him. "I… I think we need to talk." Harry only nodded, indicating a seat beside him. Frank took it. "Why did… why did you try and hurt yourself again? I thought I had a promise from you."

"You did. And you still do," answered Harry, dog-earing the page he was reading and closing the book. "Frankie, if I break that oath, I will lose my magic."

"But… you still could have KILLED yourself…" began Frank, still clearly upset over the issue.

"Frankie. Listen to me," said Harry. "I knew that wouldn't happen… because I've DONE it before."

"Now THAT makes absolutely no fucking sense."

"It will. Do you remember what happened to me on November fifth?"

"You mean when you ended up in the infirmary."

"Yeah. I know EXACTLY what happened. You see… and you have to bear with me… I know it won't make a lot of sense, but trust me, it's the honest-to-Merlin truth."

"Okay… although I doubt I'm gonna like this."

"That night… you know how I do my Occlumency exercises before I sleep… well, I found an older version of myself waiting for me in my subconscious mind."

"That's…" began Frank, but Harry held up a hand.

"Look, I'll swear on my magic if that's what it will take, but it's true. My future self integrated his memories with me. THAT'S why we're here. THAT'S why I knew it was safe, destroying the Horcrux last night. Because I knew I would survive."

"But… Harry, you could have killed Peter and Travis too!"

"I know. One of only two things I regret about last night. That, and upsetting you about it."

"Fuck, Harry, you should have just TOLD me!"

"And what would you have said? I know you would have tried to talk me out of it, and we would have fought and argued over it anyway. Better to just act and apologise than to ask permission and fight about it. Frankie, look. There are gonna be things that I have to do that are gonna scare the life out of you, but they HAVE to be done, no matter how ugly it looks."

"Did… did we… well…"

"No, there are things I can't tell you either. But there are more than a few things I WILL do, that I didn't before. Mistakes that I will correct. Mistakes that I made with the people I love and care about." Harry looked Frank straight in the eye as he said that. "Frankie, you mean the world to me, I want you to know that."

"I… Likewise," was all Frank could manage, as brown eyes continued to meet emerald. Just then, there was a click on Harry's radio.

"Sir?" Harry unclipped it from his belt, and pressed the 'talk button'.

"Go ahead."

"Sir, we need to open up the SOC."

"Right. On my way, over." He put the radio back on his belt. "Coming?"

Seconds later, Frank and Harry stood in front of a large set of doors, in the dimly lit corridor. Owen was there, along with several of the people freed from being petrified earlier. Harry once again placed a hand on the doors, and hissed, "Open." There was a loud clunk, and the doors parted.

"Sir. We've almost got steam to start the electrical plant," said Owen.

"That's great, good." Harry seemed to be pleased with the rate at which things were moving.

"What's with the 'sir' bit?" asked Frank.

"Given there are no more senior C.O.s on the boat in a qualified position, General Potter is the de-facto commander of the Invincible," answered Owen.

"General Potter? Where did that come from?" asked Frank, as they entered the room.

"I was a General. Commander of the flight squadrons on one of Invincible's sisters, the Victory," explained Harry. "Just, hold off your questions for now, I mean, I WILL explain everything, once we get Invincible back in working order." He then stood at a large table that had a glass overlay. It looked like there were numerous computer terminals, as well as various other instruments around the room.

"What is this place?" asked Frank.

"The Ship Operations Centre, or SOC for short. It might also be called the Tactical Control Centre, as this is where her weapons systems are controlled from as well…" Owen gestured to a number of computer terminals.

"We also coordinate the movements of fighter squadrons from here…" Harry pointed out another set of computer terminals. "Our air traffic control centre."

"You mean there are planes on this thing?"

"Well, sort of. They sort of look like muggle fighter planes, I guess… but they're just glorified brooms, really."

"Well, let's see you take a few mk781s on your Firebolt, sir," Owen smirked.

"Mk781? What's that?" asked Frank.

"High-explosive free-fall bomb," answered Harry. "We dropped a few of those on Bellatrix Lestrange, once we nailed down her hiding spot. Unfortunately, the crazy bitch wasn't there… a few Death Eaters were, so it wasn't a complete waste."

"Tell him about the mk13s, sir."

"Oh, those ones are fun. Fred came up with it, as I remember. Bloody brilliant, it was. A mix of polyjuice potion, a few of Remus' hairs… from while he was TRANSFORMED… a dash of DMSO… and a dash of LSD."

"Dimethyl sulfoxide…" said Frank.

"Yup, that was your idea. You ended up working with Fred and George, blending chemicals with potions… quite ingenious, actually. You never told me you did well in chemistry."

"Never thought of it, really," answered Frank. He thought for a moment. "What did Severus think of it?"

"Well, not really impressed at first. That was until we used it on a group of Death Eaters in Norway. They tore each other apart."

"We'll have to get into the ordinance locker sometime as well, and do an inventory."

"A job for Fred and George, I think," Harry thought aloud.

"Sir." Owen gestured to one of the gauges at one end of the room. "We've got enough pressure to run the power plant. I have to see to it." Harry only nodded, and Owen left the room. Frank was still looking about the room.

"Get used to her. We'll be spending most of our time here from now on," said Harry, gesturing to a vacant spot by the wall. There was a familiar red box painted on the floor.

"Teleport pad?"

"Yup. We actually removed the one that was there, it was more complicated than a simple pad. It was more like an elevator, where you chose your destination."

"But… where will you get people to help run this thing? She's enormous!"

"You'll be surprised how far we can go with the people we've got."

oOo

Owen cursed the fact that he was only a muggle, since that meant travelling several corridors and stairways, rather than just popping from place to place, as Harry had been doing that day. The electrical plant and distribution centre was over top of the main engines. It included four generators and the main switching station. He needed help, and so pulled out his radio. "Mr. Carter?"

"Go ahead," came the reply.

"I need your help again."

"Where are you?"

"I'm at the electrical plant. Can you meet me there?"

"Copy, on my way," said Travis.

A minute later, Travis stepped into the room. "We've got enough steam?"

"More than enough, now. Actually, once we're done, we can probably slow down the combustion, possibly shut down a couple of boilers… I doubt Gener… Harry's gonna want to actually move her today."

"He might," said Travis. "Best to get her up to full operating pressure anyway, I know for a fact it's been a while."

"Right, you are right there. First order of business right now, is to get the juice back on. Here…" He gestured to a valve wheel at the base of one of the generator sets. "Turn it all the way clockwise." He did so, and at once, they could hear the small engine begin to spool up.

Minutes later, all four of the generators were spooled up. The control consoles quickly reported the influx of electrical power, that now waited for switches to be closed.

"Now. The distribution panel." Owen opened a large panel, labelled, 'MASTER BREAKER', which had a large, flat lever inside. He had to push it up several times before it finally locked into place. He then pressed a smaller green button beside it, that gave a loud THUMP. Instantly, dozens of individual lights lit up on two panels.

"I'll take this panel, you take that one." Owen pointed to the opposite side. "Just push the green buttons."

"Got it."

oOo

In the control centre, Harry and Frank were still discussing a few of his future hijinx with the ships, when the lights came on, bathing the room in light. The small number of magical lights instantly dimmed, as they were only needed in the absence of electricity.

"Well, I would say that Invincible has awakened," Harry grinned. Just then, there was a click on the radio.

"Harry?"

"Go ahead, Peter."

"Where are you?"

"Are you back on the beach?"

"Yes."

"Great, Frankie and I will be right down, over."

Returning to the canopy, Harry and Frank found Travis and his volunteers had already returned.

"Well?" asked Harry, seeing Peter.

"They aren't as stupid as we thought… they're headed this way."

"Shit."

"We'll have full steam pressure by this evening," said Travis. "At least that's my guess. I mean, it only took three hours to reach 60 pounds on the gauge."

"We don't need the engines to get off the ground anyway," said Harry. He stopped. 'No, we actually DO need the engines to hold her stable in the wind,' he thought. "Scratch that." He did make a mental note to change that at first opportunity; the Invincible would be more useful if she were able to make small manoeuvres without her engines.

"Now that we have lights, maybe we should set up a teleport pad," suggested Travis.

"Yes, perfect," answered Harry. Travis nodded and quickly transfigured two pieces of debris from the beach into posts, identical to the ones he had used earlier. It took him a matter of minutes, once again, to configure the portals and test them.

"I'll show you where to put it," said Harry. They linked arms and vanished with a CRACK.

"It is so unnerving, seeing them do that," said Caspian.

"It is a joy to me, seeing Mr. Potter wield his magic with such ease," said Mr. Tumnus. "When first we met, it hurt him so, just doing small things."

"Mr. Tumnus? How… what…" Peter was VERY confused.

"It seems, I was somehow petrified on board the ship," answered the faun.

"Has Lu seen you yet?"

"Oh yes, we had a chance to speak before I went off to help Mr. Carter." Just then, the two wizards reappeared beside the pole.

"Where should we put this one?" asked Travis.

"In the cave, I guess," said Harry. "We'll need to also set one up for the trunk. I had one set up on board the Victory."

"Right. Once we set this up, I think we REALLY need to have a chat about what's going on," said Travis.

"I agree with that," said Harry. "I promised to do that last night, but… as the muggle term goes, 'If it can go wrong, it will'."

"Murphy's law, of course," Travis nodded.

"Whose law?" Caspian was confused.

"Oh. It's not really 'Murphy', but well, a sort of, bunch of sayings… you know. Pessimistic way of thinking, really," explained Travis, as Harry levitated the post over to the cave. "One of my favourites… never let anything mechanical know you're in a hurry."

"Oh Merlin, ain't that the truth," said Harry. "Ok, I'm going to check and see if anyone in the trunk wants an explanation. We'll meet aboard the ship, since there's an auditorium more appropriate for our numbers."

Harry was nervous. Now that he could see the number of people seated before him, it really hit him just how many people stood behind him in the fight against Voldemort, the residents of Narnia notwithstanding. There were a few of those as well, but they were actually few, compared with those who lived in the trunk and Order members. Harry pressed his wand to his throat, saying, "Sonorus."

"Great. Welcome, everyone. Welcome aboard, I guess I should say."

"Go Harry!" cried George, from the middle of the audience.

"Thank you, George," said Harry. "Right, then. I guess you all want an explanation of what's happened to me. Why I don't seem to be the Harry you're familiar with. It's like this…"

Harry spent the rest of the afternoon and then some, laying out the key events that occurred, leading up to 2067, culminating with his decision to return to the present, with plans to retrieve the Invincible.

"But Harry," Hermione challenged, "you are changing things as you go, are you not? Which you shouldn't be able to do in the first place, I might add…"

"Miss Granger, is it?" asked the speaker, who happened to be Dr. Cornelius, Caspian's tutor.

"Yes."

"If it weren't meant for Mr. Potter to carry out such plans, he would not have been able to carry them out. Everything happens for a reason." Harry nodded in agreement.

"That's exactly the point," Harry continued. "I mean, I… we have been very lucky so far… things have worked the way they've supposed to… equipment found intact. So far, this hasn't been a fight, as I expected it to be. I guess the important thing now, is I need the help of all of you. Some to help run things, but to also fight."

"Mr. Potter. Before we go any further," said Owen, standing.

"Go ahead," said Harry. Owen only nodded, and quickly made his way to the isle, then stepped up to the stage.

"Mr. Potter. As you are the ranking officer, you are effectively the commanding officer, captain of the United Coalition Ship Invincible. Do you accept, according to naval practices and policies established by said Coalition?"

"I accept."

"Very well, then. I do then name, Harry James Potter, Captain of this boat, according to the naval practices and policies established by the United Coalition, documented 2027."

While most of the group went to the dining hall (Harry had already retrieved both Dobby and Winky from the trunk), Harry, Travis, Frank, Peter, Edmund, and Caspian, along with Owen and several of the programmers went back to the control centre.

"We should have enough pressure now, right?" asked Harry.

"We should. I better head down to the engine room, to keep an eye on things. The equipment should be able to run on its own, but it's best to have a pair of eyes on it the first while." Harry nodded, and Owen left. He then gestured to one of the programmers. "Did anyone check to see if the mapping probe still works?"

"As far as we can tell, it should be all right," said one of the programmers.

"Great. That's the first order of business. I wish Remus could have been here. The map he, Sirius, and my dad made when they were students… well, it was the blueprint for the probe and the maps it can make."

"You mean that map of the school?" asked Frank.

"One and the same," answered Harry. "Now. To get us in the air…" He carefully studied the navigation controls, something he had never touched before in his years working with the great ships. There were numerous dials, gauges, wheels, and buttons. He also recognized three old-fashioned engine telegraphs. Then, he spotted what he was looking for. A dial, above which was a combined digital/analog altimeter, an instrument used to measure altitude. Below that was a second meter, which Harry guessed was the desired height. He started turning the dial, watching the numbers go up, until the meter read 100; the 'm' beside it indicated metres, and a great height was not necessary at that time.

A wave of energy washed over him, while the ship bumped slightly. Immediately after, the altimeter began to change, reflecting the ship's change in altitude. He then pressed a button alongside the dial, labelled 'location trim'. That would keep Invincible stationary over the current position.

"Well, is it working?" asked Travis.

"If the gauges are right, I think so."

"So what now?" asked Frank.

"Get us over land. Do we have a way to see what's directly under the ship?" asked Harry.

"The ship has dozens of cameras, sir," said one of the programmers, indicating one of the terminals.

"Get me a shot of the ground, please."

"Here, let me," offered Travis, quickly making his way over to the computer. It already had numerous screenshots up, and it only took him a few moments to find one that would be useful. "Got it. Although I'm looking at water."

"Not for long." Harry pushed the middle telegraph to the 'Dead Slow Ahead' position, causing it to ring several times. "You have a forward facing camera?"

"How's this?" Travis gestured to the computer.

"You should be able to send that over to the navigation console," said the first programmer.

"Right… yeah, got it." Travis touched the screen, and Harry found himself looking at an identical image. The camera showed part of the beach, up over top of the bluff, and into the woods. He noted the number of Narnian soldiers watching with great interest as the Invincible took to the air, and smiled to himself. This was going far better than expected.

"You're gonna deploy a map probe, sir?" asked a second programmer.

"Yeah. We need that table showing something useful." Harry gestured to the large table everyone was seated around.

"I'll set that up for you."

"Thank you," said Harry.

oOo

The soldiers on the ground were awe-struck as the Invincible rose into the air and began to drift ahead, a massive spinning propeller appearing between the two tail bodies. She drifted ahead, and then came to a stop a short ways into the woods, perhaps two boat-lengths.

oOo

"Sir. Map probe is ready to deploy."

"We're in position. Let fly."

"Deploying the probe, aye sir." The programmer touched the screen on the console. "Probe away." Harry at once joined the group at the table and waited with interest. He remembered seeing the map of England as it was generated. They had never done something like this in Narnia. It would be very interesting indeed.

About a minute passed before anything happened. Then, a ghostly outline began to appear beneath the glass, initially forming close to the Invincible. The ship itself was indicated with a large star.

"This is absolutely brilliant," exclaimed Peter. "Look! Our soldiers on the beach!" He indicated the clump of green dots clustered near the Invincible's position.

"Wait until it completely renders, I'll be able to show you a few things," said Harry.

"This is very similar to the Ministry of Magic's map," said Travis, "although I don't think theirs is this detailed. And it doesn't show every person either."

Everyone sat patiently for the next 20 minutes. while the map rendered. Every feature of the landscape seemed to be drawn in with incredible accuracy, as well as every intelligent being.

"I am astounded," said Caspian finally, staring at the massive map.

"Well, this will completely floor you, then. Show me Miraz!" Harry cried. The map instantly zoomed in on a section of the map, showing even greater detail, although not showing the person specifically. In their stead, it showed a series of green dots, with the individual's name over it. That included one that was labelled 'Miraz'.

"Sir. We could just fry them all to a crisp."

"NO! Absolutely not! Not unless we don't have any other option," answered Harry. "I would rather not unleash our cannon on Narnian soil, bloody hell."

"What sort of cannon?" asked Travis.

"Our version of a WMD," replied the programmer who proposed the option.

"Weapon of mass destruction. Lovely. We've already fucked up one world, let's go fuck up another… just great…"

"Travis, no, it's not like that. I mean, it's terrifying, what it can do, but nothing like the… err… atomic bombs," explained Harry. "It's a magical cannon… it vaporizes everything within… I don't know, a half-mile radius, maybe." He paused. "Follow on sub-map." The map returned to the full overview, while a smaller window appeared at one corner of the table, retaining its zoom on Miraz. One of the spots on the zoomed out map changed to a red colour.

"How many can it follow?"

"I don't know. We really didn't follow more than six or eight people, but I don't think there's really a limit. But it wouldn't make sense to follow too many."

"The thing is now, we have a map in front of us," said Edmund.

"That we have, Ed," said Peter. "Time to draw up some kind of plan."

"It is as I expected," said Caspian. "My uncle has mobilized the entire Telmarine army, by those numbers on the map." He gestured to the many green spots moving steadily toward their position.

"It's all right, we will get the hornets in the air by morning. We'll do an ordinance inventory tonight. Hopefully we'll have some mk13s left."

"The griffins," said Edmund. "We can use them to drop stones on them, much like we did in the battle against the White Witch."

"I will be in the air, whether it be on my broom, or on a Hornet," said Harry.

"A Hornet?" asked Travis.

"Much more sophisticated than a broom, but uses the flying charms of one. It can carry bombs or missiles like a muggle fighter jet."

"Are they easy to fly?"

"For someone who has flown a broom before," answered Harry.

"So that would mean me too, then?" asked Edmund.

"Yes, that's right. You flew on my broom a few times," said Harry. "I mean, I'll have to give you a crash course on its extra hardware, but the mechanics of flying are the same. With the added bonus, you can't really crash in one."

"Then, I can fly one of them, too?" asked Frank.

"What? NO, definitely not! I don't want you…"

"Harry, how did you feel when Dumbledore was doing that to you?" asked Frank. "I'm not fucking useless, you know, Jesus, I think I can handle one of your stupid, jacked up brooms, or whatever!" Of course, Harry knew he was right. Not to mention, the more people they could get in the air, the better. Muggle weapons were absolutely useless against the Hornets, so Frank would be perfectly safe in one.

"Fine."

"Harry. You should seek out anyone else that can fly," said Travis. "Fred and George, maybe."

"And Ron. He flies quite well, too."

"And what of your… SAU friends?" asked Caspian.

"I have some special tasks for them, I'll be talking to Deric after," said Harry. "Put it this way. Quite possibly tomorrow morning, your uncle may be enjoying the less-than-pleasant facilities of our holding cells."

"That would be a culture shock, now, wouldn't it?" Travis snickered.

"It's one idea I have. The better idea is running interference. Starting tonight, when they camp."

"Something like what you attempted to do last night?" guessed Caspian.

"Exactly. Although this time, I will leave it to the professionals."

"That's the sort of thing the SAU does regularly," said Travis. "Knowing Deric, he'll make a sport of it." Just then, there was a click on the radios in the room.

"Captain?"

"Go ahead," said Harry.

"Sir, you had better head into the trunk. Something's happened."

"Be right there," said Harry, "Over."

Harry and Frank quickly apparated to the entrance to the bunker, then touched the pad that teleported them into the trunk. Deric was waiting in the library, as were Minerva and Kingsley Shacklebolt. Albus was also sitting at the table, looking at a series of wizarding photographs.

"Professor?" Just then, Travis entered, followed by Peter, Edmund, and Caspian. "Might as well move the meeting here," said Travis.

"Guess so. What's going on?" He again gestured to Minerva.

"More bad business, Mr. Potter," said Minerva, as Albus pushed the photographs toward Harry.

Harry picked up the photos, and his knees instantly threatened to buckle from under him as he saw their contents. There were ten pictures in all, and each depicted a muggle family, brutally dismembered, blood plastered around their mangled bodies, all done while inside their homes. In each were the words, written in blood, 'YOU CAN'T PROTECT THEM ALL, POTTER'. The photos slipped out of his hand as he collapsed into a seat, blindsided by the harsh reminder of what Tom Riddle was all about. Both Edmund and Caspian reached down, picking up the photos, and both were horrified at the scenes.

"Who… would do such a thing?" asked Edmund, equally rattled.

"Someone with no heart, no conscience," said Caspian, also disturbed by the images.

"Voldemort," whispered Harry.

* * *

_**AUTHOR NOTES**__: Okay. We get our first snuff of what Voldemort is up to. if you had read "Canadian Intervention", you will remember this kind of thing has happened already to Harry. Voldemort sending him little reminders, and so on. So it most certainly continues here._

_On the note of all the technical stuff. It was done for a reason. It shows how awkward things were in Harry's future, not having easy access to magic. I mean, think of the wizard way of doing it, the ship wouldn't need boilers, and so on. Yet, the bare essential flying charms took a number of wizards to set up, and almost killed several of them. That is the type of scenario they faced. So yes, many things are rather primitive, muggle-designed, and so on. Hope it wasn't TOO much techno-jargon, or too boring._

_Lots of other stuff happened here, as we saw Harry and Travis duel again, although I didn't focus on them during that incident, and rather, focused on others' thoughts as it occurred. Of course, we see the Telmarines are closing in on Cair Paravel, and most certainly, there will be a nasty fight ahead._

_Mr. Tumnus. I absolutely love his character, and did the first time I was exposed to the world of Narnia, back in grade 4. The sweet, adorable creature he is, yet so brave, and so on. (I thought James McAvoy did an awesome job portraying him) So, he most certainly makes an appearance here, and will certainly stick around._


	7. The Battle of Cair Paravel

_I was hoping I would get one more chapter up on before I disappeared for the weekend. I am away as of Thursday, and will not be in front of my computer again until sometime Monday, which of course is Labour Day here in North America. I will most likely not have anything new up on the site until sometime next week. Have a great holiday, everyone!_

_WARNING: Coarse language. GORE. Battle scenes. Not for the squeamish. And Narnia purists… beware…_

_

* * *

_**7: THE BATTLE OF CAIR PARAVEL**

Harry slept poorly that night, disturbed by the hellish images shown him the previous evening. Even with Frank in his arms, and Travis still sharing the bed, it was not enough. As it neared 3:30, he kissed Frank on the forehead, carefully levitated Travis into the air, got up, then lowered Travis back into his position. He smiled as Frank moved over and the two of them snuggled against each other. 'You ARE setting them up for an awkward discovery,' his conscience sounded in his head. He only smirked evilly. Despite his sour mood, his Slytherin side was at play, and he wouldn't deny it. Now if only he had a camera…

"Good morning, Harry," said Arthur. He was already up and having breakfast in the dining room, since he had to be at the Ministry of Magic for nine am—or four am local time, due to the five hours' difference between Southern Ontario and the U.K.

"Morning," answered Harry sleepily. He only plucked a banana from the fruit basket that sat at the centre of the table.

"Couldn't sleep, I take it?"

"Those pictures last night… just so disturbing," answered Harry. "Even after seeing so many horrible things in the future, stuff like that still… it still feels like I've been run over by a herd of centaurs."

"Perhaps you should sit down with Miss Kelly again."

"I won't have time today or tomorrow, as much as I should. This is gonna be a day straight from hell, I can see it now. I have to keep my training brief this morning… gotta check the map… give several people a crash flying lesson…"

"Harry, breathe," said Arthur. "I'm sure things will work out just fine. Just think of it this way. The enemy today is not magical; you have an incredible advantage to that end."

"I guess you're right… it's just the numbers… bloody hell, you should see the map. They easily double the Narnians."

"Numbers are only part of the puzzle, Harry. It is tactics that truly win a battle."

"I'll try to keep that in mind. Have a good day at work, Arthur." Harry wolfed down the rest of his banana and stood up.

"That's all you're eating? Molly would have a fit!"

"Not if she doesn't know… besides, I'll eat more later. I have to visit Gringotts before I forget."

A minute later, he stood in the lobby of Gringotts Toronto branch. It was one of a few places that were open 'round the clock in the wizard world. He made his way up to a teller.

"How my I help you?" asked the goblin behind the wicket.

"I need into one of my vaults," answered Harry, producing the key to his family vault.

"Very well," said the goblin, stepping down from behind the wicket and appearing through a small opening in the counter, "This way, please…"

An hour later, Harry returned to the trunk, bringing with him an assortment of items, including several dragon-hide cuirasses, bracers, greaves (lower body armour), and helmets. He had also brought several short swords, long swords, and other weapons.

The most important part of the trip, however, rested deep in his pocket, and it would have to wait until Frank was up. He had waited too long the first time around, and in the end it had cost him dearly. It was one mistake he was wasting no time correcting.

Once he had laid out the weapons and armour on the conference table in the library, he then returned to the Invincible, and in turn, the control room. Surprisingly, it was deserted. A quick glance up at the clock showed it was the same time there as it was back in the trunk: just before five am. All the same, he made a mental note to place a third clock in the common room as a reminder of the time aboard the Invincible; she wouldn't always be in the same time zone as the trunk.

He looked at the map on the table again, and groaned. The Telmarines had wasted little time, and were now within only a few miles of Cair Paravel. There would be a battle today, without a doubt. The hideous photos of Voldemort's handiwork the previous evening had effectively put an end to the strategy session, so there had been no plans hatched for some psychological warfare to be waged on the enemy. It would come down to other strategies, and quite possibly, the power of the Invincible herself. Harry truly hoped he would not have to unleash the cannon; its use could harm more than just the Telmarines.

Then, something dawned on him. With the Telmarines being so close, they might easily spot the Invincible. She was something Harry wanted to keep secret, at least until the last possible moment. He quickly went over to the controls, and turned the ship around. 'Now, where to put her for now,' he thought. He quickly referred back to the map, zooming in on their current location. He would put her back down close to the water, behind what was the castle. It would be good enough to keep her out of sight. He knew he could easily hide the ship entirely using a disillusionment charm, but preferred not to, since they would be using the Hornets, and the Invincible needed to be visible when it was time for them to land. He changed the engine telegraph to 'dead slow ahead'.

"Sir?" Harry turned to see Owen standing in the doorway about a minute later.

"Just moving us out of sight," answered Harry.

"Have a good sleep?"

"No, definitely not. Voldemort and his Death Eaters decided to have a little fun at my expense, owling me disturbing images," answered Harry.

"Sorry to hear."

"I hope I didn't disturb you."

"Don't worry about it. I heard one of the engines start, and I just wanted to make sure whoever was messing about had the authorization to do so."

"Well, it's just me. I'm moving us back to the beach, and out of sight. Although, later on, I want to test fire the cannon… brush up on procedure and so on."

"It will probably be an idea to do it out at sea, rather than so close to the coastline," said Owen.

"I agree. Even with a low-power deployment, it will do a lot of damage. If Tom's hideout in Little Hangleton was any show of it."

"Yes, I do remember that one, sir. A shame Tom wasn't home at the time."

"Little good it would have done, with his Horcruxes. We still had two to go at the time. At this point today, that's where we stand as well, although I know where both are."

"Including the one inside yourself?"

"Yes. That one was destroyed the day before yesterday."

"You aren't wasting any time at all, sir."

"Why should I, when I already know the players and the plays? The quicker we end this, the better off everyone will be." Harry glanced up at the large monitor above the controls, which split between an underside camera, and a view forward. He shifted the telegraph to the 'stop' position, and then changed the altitude so that the ship would hover just slightly above the water, as Invincible had just cleared the remains of Cair Paravel.

Just before six am, Harry made his way into the ordinance storage facility, which was directly below the hangar. There were several elevators that connected the two rooms, inspired by aircraft carriers. Harry was quite pleased with the reasonable number of ordinance present, including 20 mk13s, or, 'OFUs' as his flight squadron had nicknamed them: Operation fuck-ups. He would definitely speak to Remus about donating some of his hairs again next time he transformed… the mk13s definitely had their use.

Climbing the stairs leading up into the hangar, he was pleased to see that some of the Hornets had been pulled out and were already lined up. It had been a number of years since he had flown one, but it was much like riding a bike. You never really forget.

He wasted no time in climbing into the first one. They were almost as manoeuvrable as his Firebolt, and were easily a third faster. A number of employees from the research department of the Firebolt company actually helped in the design of the craft. Harry quickly did a cursory check of the controls and instruments, and then carefully pulled back on the stick. Doing so was just like when pulling back on a broom while riding it; the craft lifted off the floor. Pressing the pedals at his feet spun the craft around so he was facing the half-open hangar door. 'Here goes nothing,' he thought, although if anyone could see him, they would have seen a wide grin plastered on his face. He could feel his palms getting sweaty, his heart begin to race, with anticipation. Hornets were one of the few things that were better than a broom. He pushed the 'throttle' forward roughly, and the Hornet shot from the hangar with incredible speed, plastering Harry to the back of his seat with the force.

Those just beginning to stir on the beach saw what looked like a streak flash across the water, and quickly ascend into the air. Most, of course, had no clue as to exactly what it was. Edmund and Lucy, who had just woken, knew EXACTLY what it was.

"Well, it looks like someone is having fun," Edmund mused, getting into a sitting position.

"Harry is flying one of his air… craft, I would assume?" asked Mr. Tumnus.

"Looks like it."

"And you are sure you can fly one of those, Ed?" asked Lucy.

"Certain of it! Harry did teach me to fly a broom last time he was here, remember?"

"That he did. I just wish he would let ME fly one."

"You're too young, Lu, we don't want you to get hurt," answered Edmund.

Harry finally landed the craft on the beach, close to the canopy they had erected the day before last, seeing the core of his group of friends, new and old, gathered nearby.

"Blimey, Harry, never seen anything like that before," said Fred.

"And you won't. These are exclusive to the Invincible… at least right now."

"Nice of you NOT to wake us up, Harry," said Travis, trying to sound irritated. His grin gave him away, however, as did the grin on Frank's face.

"I thought you two needed some more sleep, so I left you guys as was," answered Harry innocently. "All right. Here's the thing. Those that want to fly one of these things have to have been on a broom before. If that describes you, meet me in the hangar. Frankie, climb in behind me…"

By eleven am, scouts reported the Telmarine forces were within a mile of the beach. It was time to put things in motion. Actually, there were several things he needed to do, one of which involved something that still rested in the pocket of his cargo shorts. So, with that in mind, he had the core group meet again under the canopy on the beach.

"Everything's in place, Harry," said Deric. "The guys—"

"Hold onto that for a moment," said Harry, turning to Frank. "Man, this is bloody difficult… Frankie… I… There were so many times in the future… and I just… What we are about to face… it's something…" Harry reached into his pocket, and pulled out the item he had retrieved from his family vault earlier that morning. It was a simple silver ring, with no engravings. He dropped to one knee, saying, "This ring was my mum's… dad gave it to her when…" He had to stop for several seconds, as his emotions threatened to overrun him. "Frankie Cordell… would you take my name… become my mate, my partner, my everything?"

Frank was stunned. It was as simple as that. Yet, there was only one answer. "I think I would like that very much, Harry Potter." He held out his hand, and Harry slipped the ring on one of the fingers; it instantly resized itself to properly fit. The two of them wrapped in a hug, and sealed the engagement with a kiss.

Those gathered around saw two swirls of light encircle the two lovers; one silver and one gold. One burrowed into Harry, while the other burrowed into Frank.

"What is that?" asked Caspian.

"Concatenatio Anima Materiaque," said Hermione, "Magical soul mates. This happened the first time they kissed, a few months ago now."

"Congratulations Frank and Harry!" said Lucy happily.

"Indeed, congratulations," said Peter, also smiling. 'About time they made it official,' thought the High King.

"On to more pressing matters," said Harry, facing Peter and producing his wand. He held it in front of him and said, "I, Harry James Potter, lend my wand in the defence of the realm of Narnia, against present and future threats, to the best of my ability."

"Harry! You can't!" Hermione gasped.

"Sure he can," Travis piped up.

"I… I don't know what to say," said Peter, as a purple swirl of magic wafted from Harry's wand, to drift toward the kings, queens, and prince.

"Say, 'So mote it be'," answered Travis.

"So mote it be," said Peter. A strand of purple magic burrowed into his chest. Each of his siblings followed suit, garnering a similar response. Now, only Caspian remained.

"Does it hurt?"

"No, 'course not!" Travis snorted.

"Oh. Then, so mote it be," said Caspian. The last strand of purple energy vanished into the young prince's chest. He instantly felt a warm sensation wash over him. It lasted only briefly, but right then he knew that he had been touched by magic. It was something he instantly wanted to feel again.

oOo

Caspian wasn't the only one to be touched by the magical oath uttered by Harry. Only a mile from Cair Paravel, yet another individual was touched by the magical oath. As King Miraz continued to lay out strategies against the Narnians, he felt an icy, prickly sensation wash over him. A sensation that was VERY pronounced, and made the man feel VERY uncomfortable. No one was actually DOING anything to him, but yet, it felt like icy fingers were touching him all over.

"My Lord?" asked Glozelle.

"N-nothing," answered Miraz, re-focusing on the map before him.

In another part of the country, far removed from the theatre of war about to open up near Cair Paravel, a magnificent lion paused, as he, too, felt the sensation of magic, similar to what Caspian had felt. It was matched, equally, by the icy, prickly sensation felt by Miraz. Something had just changed in the world, and the all-knowing lion was, for once, completely confused.

oOo

As Harry was getting more congratulations from the group, there was a click on the radio. "MR. POTTER?"

Harry pulled out the device. "Go ahead."

"SIR, THE TELMARINES ARE GETTING INTO FORMATION, AND GETTING READY TO MOVE."

"Thank you. Don't stay too long and put yourself in danger. Over." He clipped the radio back onto his belt. "Okay, guys, it's show time."

"Could either you or Travis transfigure a stand or something for me?" asked Peter.

"Got it," said Travis, gesturing at a stone that lay in the sand with his wand, transforming it into a decent sized stand. With Travis' help, Peter climbed up on top of it. Harry had to admire the young man that truly was the High King of Narnia. He was dressed in his armour, similar to that of his brother, with the only difference being that he wore chain mail from head to toe, whereas Edmund did not. His red tunic had a lion emblazoned on the stomach area.

"Today…" he began, trying to make himself heard.

"Wait," said Harry, quickly climbing up to join him. He drew his wand, placed it at Peter's throat, and said, "Sonorus!"

"Thanks…" He was slightly surprised as his voice carried up and down the beach. "1300 years ago, my sisters, brother, and I fought in a war from within Narnia, to break the realm from the icy cold of the white witch. That battle, so many years ago, was about power and control.

"Today, the battle is NOT about control. It is about our existence, our right to LIVE. Today, we will show our Telmarine foes that we WILL not go away quietly, that we have EVERY right to be here that they have, and that we WILL fight to THE VERY LAST soul, should it be required! I see so many of you here, once again willing to stand up and fight, so I say now, let us show them we mean business! Let us give the enemy a TRUE Narnian welcome!" With that, the enormous crowd of soldiers exploded into pandemonium, while Harry cancelled the charm.

"Right then. I'm off to fly a Hornet. Coming, Ed?"

"Yeah. Good luck, Peter."

"Good hunting, Ed." Edmund gave a little salute to his brother, and linked arms with Harry and Frank, then vanished with a loud CRACK.

They reappeared in the Invincible's hangar and flight deck. "All right, guys, let's get in the air." Harry watched as the others quickly climbed into their aircraft.

"You too, Frankie." He leaned over and gave him a peck on the cheek. "Be careful."

"You too, Harry." They both then climbed into their own Hornets. Harry put on a headset.

"All right, check in guys."

"PHOENIX TWO READY," came a reply, belonging to Frank. 'He didn't waste any time,' Harry thought to himself.

"PHOENIX THREE READY," came Travis' voice.

"PHOENIX FOUR READY," came Edmund's voice.

"UM, PHOENIX FIVE READY," came Ron's uncertain voice; he didn't have a whole lot of experience handling a muggle radio.

"PHOENIX SIX…"

"AND PHOENIX SEVEN, READY!" came the twins' voices.

"Great, guys," said Harry. "Let's get on with it, then." He was already lined up with the doors, and so pressed the throttle easily forward; the craft swiftly cleared the hangar, and ascended into the sky, quickly rising over the ruins of Cair Paravel.

He waited for the others to fly up behind, then began the trek toward the edge of the woods. The Narnians had already lined up along the edge of the bluff, while the Telmarines had then began to appear at the edge of the woods.

"WHAT'S FIRST?" came Travis' voice.

"Mk13s. That's code 13," answered Harry. The weapons systems on the Hornets were ingenious, since the ordinance was directly summoned to the aircraft from storage on the Invincible. It was placed in a cradle directly under the aircraft, ready to be deployed by command of the pilot.

"PHOENIX THREE, ARMED." One after the other, the rest of the Hornets reported being armed.

"Wait for the Telmarines to move first, guys. Maybe we'll get lucky."

"I STRONGLY DOUBT THAT," came Edmund's voice. He had no sooner said that when the enemy began to march from the edge of the forest.

"Phoenix two, three, and four, take left. Phoenix five, six, and seven, take right," said Harry. He watched as the other Hornets split and took their respective sides. Just then, there was a loud CLUNK, as something struck the bottom of the aircraft. "Watch out, guys, they know we're here."

"THEY CAN'T REALLY HURT US, THOUGH, RIGHT?" came Edmund's voice.

"Keep your arms and legs inside the vehicle at all times," said Harry. He heard Travis snort and let out a snicker.

"THEY'RE FIRING ARROWS AT US," came Ron's voice.

"I sort of expected that. All right, let 'em have it." Harry pressed the trigger beside the armament request pad.

oOo

The Telmarines were expecting an easy fight that morning. With the easy slaughter of half the enemy's forces two days before, and overwhelming numbers on their side, Miraz had expected little resistance. So, when strange flying machines suddenly appeared over the ruins of Cair Paravel, Miraz knew that it would be anything BUT an easy fight. It was confirmed, when the seven strange machines dropped long cylindrical objects on the surging forces. They each exploded, sending shards of material and men flying.

That was only the beginning. Moments later, the men struck by debris from the falling objects began to change—abruptly and grotesquely. Old Telmar stories told of werewolves, men who changed into a wolf-like state during the full moon. Whatever was in the strange cylinders dropped from the flying machines, was causing men to become something LIKE a werewolf!(1) Worse off, they were attacking each other, attacking men around them unaffected by the substance, or doing other things that seemed completely insane. The commanders were forced to order the affected men killed, for the safety of the rest.

The unexpected attack had all but halted the Telmarines' advance on the defending Narnians as another round of cylinders fell from the flying machines, once again plastering scores of men with the substance. In all his years of skirmishes and battles, Miraz had not seen anything like it; the attack held him baffled. How could he combat something like that in the air, from machines that seemed to be immune to attack themselves?

oOo

While the Telmarines halted their advance, the Narnians did not. The two armies finally met with a clash of weapons and humanity.

"All right, guys. We can't use the heavy weapons now, we might hurt our own as much as the enemy."

"BOULDER BOMBS?" came Edmund's voice.

"Yes. Code 104," said Harry. It had actually been Lucy's idea, and had taken about a half-hour to put together. A larger cylinder filled with medium-sized boulders would be summoned from the ship, much like the other weapons. It could then be dumped, and the cylinder jettisoned.

oOo

Seeing the Hornets dropping 'boulder bombs' was the signal Susan needed, and gave the signal for the griffons to take off with boulders of their own. She was with a group of archers off to the side, leading a ranged attack.

The griffins—winged animals that had an eagle's head and a lion's body—were quite effective using boulders like bombs. Unfortunately, they were far more vulnerable to the Telmarines' archers, and a number of them were quickly felled, never able to deliver their payload.

oOo

Peter and Caspian fought side by side, cutting a swath of carnage through the wave of Telmarines that surged forward. It was truly brutal, as both now wore the blood of their enemies many times over.

They were suddenly joined by one of Deric's men. "All right, sirs?"

"Fine," said Peter, dodging yet another stab from an attacker.

"REDUCTO!" cried the soldier, wand thrust at the attacker's chest. It effectively blew a hole through it, destroying the man's lungs and heart. The body dropped to the ground with a sickening plop.

"Gruesome, but effective," said Peter. His face would have been quite pale, had it not been covered with splatters of blood.

"That it is—EXPULSO!" The soldier directed his wand at an approaching enemy, which promptly exploded, sending bits of himself in all directions. The young prince ended up wiping pieces of the victim's skull from his face. 'I would have to believe this man is actually ENJOYING this,' thought Caspian, as he once again brought his sword up to protect himself against yet another attacker.

"The name's Dale, by the way," said the soldier, drawing his side-arm and rapidly dispatching two more Telmarines, one of which was about to plunge his sword into Peter's back.

"Close one, your majesty," said Dale, gesturing to the now dead attacker.

"Thank you."

"Don't—" Dale spun around, and put two more bullets into the skull of yet another attacker, "…mention it."

"Your weapon… it is quite effective," noted Caspian.

"Rather not use it, but…" he fired off several more rounds, "Sometimes muggle methods work better than magic." He let off several more shots, each finding their mark, either seriously injuring or killing the target.

"I am still not used to…" Caspian jabbed his short blade into the stomach of an oncoming attacker. "…to your use of magic."

"It doesn't surprise me." Dale shrugged. "Most muggles aren't." He let off several more shots, dropping two more Telmarine attackers. He ended up having to shoot the second one again, as he still seemed to pose a threat.

"If you continue to hang around Harry and his friends, you must get used to it, Caspian. They are not about to change." Peter leaned on his sword for a moment to catch his breath; it had been non-stop since the two armies clashed.

"Are you all right, my liege?" Reepicheep had found his way over to the trio.

"It is fine, my friend," said Peter, wiping some of the guck off his face. Only now did he regret not wearing his helmet.

"WATCH out!" Dale spun around to both shoot and curse a foe that seemed to come out of nowhere. The skin seemed to dissolve off the victim's body as he let out a blood-curdling scream.

"That is most disturbing," said Reepicheep, as the man drew his last agonizing breath.

"War is disturbing, my friend," answered Dale.

oOo

It didn't take a lot of math for the Telmarines to realize that those with sticks were far more dangerous than those with swords. So, gradually, they began to instead use ranged attacks against the stick-wielding humans. It was through this type of attack that Alastor found himself in the care of healers on the beach, having taken an arrow in the buttocks. Most embarrassing for the retired Auror.

It also didn't take long for the wizards to notice this.

"It looks like they've caught onto us," said Dale. It had been several minutes since they had been approached by the enemy.

"This has worked far better than I could have hoped," said Peter, taking advantage of the break. It was then that a hail of arrows fell around them. Dale quickly conjured up a shield, but not before several fell amongst them. "Everyone okay?"

"Not I, I'm afraid," said Caspian, gesturing to his leg, which now had an arrow jabbed into it.

"Shit!" Dale unclipped his radio. "Black watch five to Phoenix support, over."

"PHOENIX ONE, GO AHEAD," came the reply.

"Caspian needs a healer at once."

"SEND UP SPARKS WITH YOUR WAND SO WE CAN FIND YOU."

"Copy that." Dale pointed his wand skyward and sent a bloom of red sparks into the sky.

Only moments later, one of the Hornets descended close to the group, while Dale again provided a shield.

"What happened?" asked Travis.

"They're using ranged attacks against us," answered Dale, while Peter helped Caspian into the rear seat of the aircraft. "I'm not seein' where it's comin' from."

"Right. We'll have a look," said Travis.

"PHOENIX THREE, WE'LL DO A SEARCH. TAKE CASPIAN TO THE BEACH," came Harry's voice.

"Copy that," said Travis, "All set?"

"I think so," said Caspian, "This… is just like a broom?"

"Pretty much," answered Travis, "Ok, guys, watch yourselves." Dale, Peter, and the mouse all stepped back from the aircraft, which then rose into the sky. Very quickly, Travis cleared what had become the battlefield, and then lowered over the bluff, down to the beach.

oOo

As much as Lucy wanted to help with the offence against the Telmarines, she had been convinced by her siblings, as well as Harry, to help with the wounded. She remained on the beach, along with a number of others, who would bring the wounded down from above the bluff for treatment. Molly and Lisa were on hand as well, along with several medi-witches from Upper Canada Hospital and St. Mungo's. Harry had been able to convince both hospitals to loan a couple of staff each. They were all placed under a secrecy charm.

Seeing the Hornet settle on the beach near the extra tent that had been erected, one of the medi-witches went out at once to determine what scenario they would be facing. They had already dealt with some gruesome injuries, including a faun who had had one of his legs completely severed. He would need more than a few days' care to ensure everything reattached properly.

Caspian's injury, in comparison, was mild.

"No, no, stay put," said the young witch. "I can handle this from here." She waved her wand and banished the arrow, then cast a healing charm on the wound. "There you go, good as new."

"I thank you."

"Think nothing of it," answered the medi-witch, giving the prince a warm smile.

"Where is Peter?" asked Lucy, joining the medi-witch at the side of the aircraft. It was low enough, that when seated in it, those outside could easily see into it.

"With one of the… err… SAU… soldiers, and the mouse Reepicheep," answered Caspian.

"They're using ranged attacks against us now, at least those of us that are wizards," said Travis, "We gotta go."

"Be careful!" said Lucy as the craft again lifted off to again soar above the bluff.

"Right. I think I see our little problem." Travis gestured to what looked like a group of men gathered off to the side of the battlefield. Occasionally, a throng of arrows burst from the group. "Caspian. There are identical controls to mine in your compartment. Can you take care of the throttle?"

"What? Which? Err… I don't know…" the prince sputtered, surprised at this request.

"It's simple. It's a lever on your left side. I need a hand free to use my wand." The craft suddenly shot forward, then came to an abrupt stop.

"Err… sorry."

"Easy with it. The more you push it forward, the faster we go. Phoenix one."

"GO AHEAD," came the reply.

"We've got our little problem. They're launching arrows from the ruins side of the beach."

"COPY THAT. ARE YOU TAKING CARE OF IT?"

"Copy." He paused. "Give me a bit of speed… gentle."

"All right." The craft put on a bit of speed.

"Perfect," said Travis. "Man, I can't believe how well these things fly."

"They have been most effective today."

"Yeah, for sure. Okay, give me a bit more speed. Let's see if we can't toast the fuckers."

oOo

Seeing the strange flying machine approaching low and fast, the Telmarine archers again attempted to knock it out of the sky with their arrows, without effect. They turned to run, but it was too late. A red bolt of magic erupted from it, struck the ground amongst the archers, and instantly created an ungodly conflagration where they stood. Travis had used a modified 'Incendio' charm, which not just set a specific item on fire; it actually created a small inferno. Within a minute, only burning bodies remained.

oOo

"Aguamenti," said Travis, gesturing at the ground with his wand. Water gushed out of the end of his wand, effectively extinguishing the remaining fire. "Don't want that to spread," he supplied.

"PHOENIX THREE."

"Go ahead."

"WE'VE GOT ARCHERS ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE FIELD. YOU MIND?"

"Got it," answered Travis, glancing once more at his handiwork.

oOo

The battle was going incredibly poorly for the Telmarines. By Glozelle's estimates, they had been reduced to a third of their number in the short time the battle had been ongoing. The hellish flying machines had easily decimated their numbers, and the magic-users? They were like ten regular men.

"My lord," said Glozelle, "If we do not withdraw…"

"And make our army look foolish?" Sopespian was incensed at the suggestion.

"And if we stay here, there will not BE an army LEFT!" Glozelle snapped back.

"No, there will be…" Miraz did not finish, as Dale, Peter, Reepicheep, and two more SAU members appeared right in front of them.

"Actually, I would probably follow his advice," said Peter, gesturing to Glozelle with his free hand. In his other, he had his sword already drawn in a defensive posture. They had been there for the past ten to 15 seconds, listening in while under a disillusionment charm.

"What… how… this is WITCHCRAFT!" Sopespian exclaimed as several Telmarine soldiers drew their swords.

"Your weapons won't matter against us," warned Dale, "although I believe you have already realized that. It didn't take us long to figure that much out."

Miraz looked enraged, staring at the young king standing before him, seeming to look… almost arrogant about the whole affair. He snapped, lunging forward, drawing his sword all in one motion. Peter quickly matched it. Glozelle attempted to step in, but found himself stunned, courtesy of Dale's wand. "Anyone ELSE want to interfere?"

"SAU lead to our location at once," said a second SAU member into his radio.

"SPARK YOUR LOCATION, PLEASE," came the reply, as Peter and Miraz' swords clashed again.

"Copy." The SAU member raised his wand to the sky, and shot off a shower of red sparks.

Peter and Miraz continued their close combat, with Peter taking a wide swing and slashing Miraz' leg. The usurper faltered briefly, a look of surprise briefly crossing his face, and then lunged at the boy-king. Peter was ready, however, and easily blocked the rage-filled strike.

"Why… continue… with this, boy?" Miraz rasped.

"Because I thought it best to defeat you and your army in every way possible," answered Peter, as they glared at one another. A series of POPS drew everyone's attention away, as seven additional men suddenly appeared around the camp, all dressed identically to Dale. All had their wands drawn, as well as a side arm.

"It's over, Miraz," said Peter.

"It will NEVER be over!" Miraz roared, taking another wide swipe with his sword. Peter easily parried the strike and followed through, piercing the king's shoulder. Miraz dropped to his knees.

"I want to hear you say it. Order your army to retreat."

"Or I shall make you beg for death," said Deric menacingly.

"No," said Miraz icily.

"Fine." Deric thrust his wand at Miraz. "Crucio." The screams that erupted from the prone Telmar king made the others' skin crawl as he thrashed about on the ground.

"Sir, that's enough," said Dale. Deric nodded and released the curse, leaving Miraz heaving.

"Do you surrender?" asked Peter. "I strongly doubt you want another dose of whatever curse he just used on you."

"F-f-fine," Miraz wheezed, "We… we surrender."

"Unconditionally?"

"Un… unconditionally. S-s-sound retreat!" Miraz shouted.

"Do it, or you will feel the pain of your king!" Deric barked. The generals gathered around quickly took off to carry out the king's orders.

"I think we've got one last piece of business here, then," said Dale, nodding to Peter.

"As High King of Narnia, I charge Miraz of Telmar with high treason. You are under arrest." Deric only nodded in understanding, having not been privy to the conversation between Dale and Peter earlier. He gestured with his wand, and Miraz found himself instantly bound with magical cords. "Take him to the Invincible." Two of the SAU members nodded, grabbed onto Miraz, and they vanished with a soft POP.

"Any Telmar soldier found in Narnia two days from now will be arrested," said Peter, "You have two hours to get yourselves away from Cair Paravel, and we are not in the mood to be lenient."

oOo

The sounds of horns were echoing across the battlefield now. The Hornets were all hovering at the edge of the bluff, each observing the fast retreat of the Telmarines. Once the Narnians figured out what the horns meant, they retreated to the edge of the bluff as well.

The battlefield itself was a gruesome scene, with many bodies littering the field, blood feeding the soil. A decisive victory for the Narnians, it was still costly, as many Narnian soldiers paid with their lives that afternoon. It was far outweighed by the number of fallen Telmarines.

"Right. I think we can return to the Invincible," said Harry.

"COPY," came a chorus of voices over the radio, as Harry turned the Hornet around.

"I'LL WANT TO GET DOWN TO THE BEACH RATHER QUICKLY," he heard Edmund say.

"CASPIAN SAYS THE SAME THING," came Travis' voice.

"Let's land on the beach, then," suggested Harry, as he gently lowered the Hornet to the beach. Those on the ground were already celebrating.

"A most decisive victory, Harry!" Mr. Tumnus exclaimed, as he helped Harry out of the aircraft. He was dressed in a set of dragon hide armour Harry had provided.

"That it was. We did better than I expected. And Frankie here…" he gestured to Frank, "I think you might have enjoyed that."

"I'll never tell," answered Frank.

"You would be singing an entirely different tune, had you been on the ground," said Travis, walking over with Caspian trailing.

"No doubt there, I guess."

"I can't believe it's over," said Edmund, also joining the group.

"Let's go find your sister," Travis suggested.

"She is over with the healers, I believe," offered Mr. Tumnus.

"No doubt, her cordial was most certainly used often," Edmund smiled. Just then, there were several POPs, and Deric appeared a short distance away, along with the rest of his men, and Peter. They quickly joined the group.

"Miraz has been captured," Deric declared. "He's in a holding cell on board the Invincible."

"Anyone else that should be added to that list?"

"Let us deal with that later," suggested Caspian.

"Agreed," said Peter, as they made their way over to the large tent.

Inside, most of the group stopped dead. Lucy was there, talking to an enormous lion. The other occupants of the large tent seemed to be uneasy with the large cat's presence. Of course, who wouldn't, it WAS a lion.

"Why did you not seek me out?" the lion was saying.

"We had it sorted, Aslan," answered Edmund.

"Indeed, so it seems," said the lion, turning to face the group. He did not look happy.

"Aslan. It is good to see you again," said Peter, giving a slight bow. Edmund did the same, and Caspian followed suit.

"And who might you be?" Aslan gestured to Harry with his left paw.

"Harry, sir. Harry Potter. These are my friends Frank, Ron, Travis, and Deric," answered Harry.

"This is Aslan," Lucy introduced, seeming to bubble with joy with the presence of him.

"Peter, Ed, Lucy, and Susan have told me much about you, sir," said Harry.

"Indeed, I am sure they have," said Aslan, "Although I must inquire how you managed to place yourselves here in Narnia."

"It was by accident a number of years ago, at least for me," Harry explained, "About 1300 years ago by Narnian years, I guess."

"They arrived about two years after you left, Aslan," said Peter.

"I had to return to retrieve one of our ships that were left behind when we had to return to my world. Unfortunately, we found… well… things not as we expected," Harry explained.

"Yet, you have interfered in the nature of Narnia, in the business here. This battle… was not yours to fight," said Aslan.

"Why isn't it?" asked Travis. "Peter and Harry are friends… and, I mean, friends help friends… at least in my part of the world. I don't know how it works here… but Peter asked Harry for help, and Harry gladly gave it."

"You asked strangers from another world? Rather than seek out my help?"

"You weren't exactly accessible, Aslan. Harry was here, and quite willing to fight," said Peter.

"You… appear unhappy at our victory here," said Caspian. "Surely, the end justifies the means."

"There were lessons to be learned here, which were not…"

"Is it just me, or is he channelling Dumbledore?" Travis snorted.

"Travis!" Harry hissed.

"So, when WOULD you have shown up, then?" Travis continued. "I have just met you, and man, I already don't like you."

"You are troubled, son of Adam," Aslan surmised.

"Oh PLEASE. Not more biblical nonsense," Travis snorted. "I'm a fucking human being, leave it at that. I'm not troubled, trouble finds me, that's all."

"Travis! Quit it!" Harry repeated.

"NO! Harry, don't you see? He's EXACTLY like Dumbledore! He lays out a bunch of tests for people, or whatever, watches things from a distance, then shows up at the last minute, and 'evaluates' them on how they did. He moves people around like pawns on a chess board… and quite frankly, I HATE people that do that!"

"I quite assure you, that is not…" Aslan began.

"He wouldn't do that, you're wrong!" Lucy exclaimed. She couldn't believe that what Travis had just said could be anywhere near the truth.

"Travis… without his help… I would still be a stone statue," pointed out Mr. Tumnus. "Aslan is only of good intentions."

"Good intentions, right. So does the end justify the means?" asked Travis, deciding to paraphrase Caspian.

"The road is not meant to be easy, Travis," said Aslan.

"You can say THAT again," Travis agreed. "For me, there hasn't BEEN a fucking road… more like a worn path full of sinkholes."

"At least you have a road at all. There are those who have no sense of direction whatsoever, and are hopelessly adrift."

"Um… Peter, were you aware you have a nasty cut on your arm?" Frank gestured to Peter's left forearm, where his bracer had been slashed.

"Allow me," said one of the medi-witches, mustering up the courage to approach the group and the lion. She quickly banished the bracer, then lifted his shirt sleeve, and cast a healing charm on the cut.

"Blimey, didn't even notice it… heat of battle and so on," said Peter.

"You look an absolute mess," said Lucy. "And so do you." She gestured to Caspian. Both looked equally messy.

"I think I can help there," said Harry, gesturing at both king and prince with his wand. "Scourgify!" They found themselves instantly looking far cleaner.

"You are of magic," said Aslan, sounding surprised. "Sons of Myrddin."

"Sons of Merlin," said Travis, quickly understanding the translation.

"One of his many names," supplied Deric.

"And you used your magic on the battlefield?"

"Of course! We used whatever means, whatever tactic, to get the result," said Deric.

"Most disturbing indeed," said Aslan. "Not even the white witch manipulated magic in such a manner."

"Oh God, come off it!" Travis snorted. "We got rid of the fucking Telmarines. That's what needed to happen here, and we were quite happy to help. I'm sorry if that disappoints you."

"What disappoints me are the lessons that remained unlearned, son of Myrddin."

"What, you mean, waiting until it's too late, and there's no time to come up with a better plan… being forced to rush out a panicked solution that could have ended in many deaths? What kind of lesson is that?" Travis challenged.

"Actions have consequences…"

"As if we don't need reminding of that, Aslan!" Peter snapped, as the wheels turned in his own head. Although the lion did not say it, it appeared he knew very well all that had happened over the past few days. He COULD have intervened at any time, but chose not to, so it seemed.

"Look," said Harry, "what's done is done, we can't exactly use a time-turner and go back three or four days. I think what's more important here is what happens next."

"That is indeed a good question," said Aslan. "Most important. Sons and daughters of Myrddin. If you have completed your business here, it is best for you to not linger. This is not your place."

"And what makes that your decision?" Travis challenged. "I think I actually like it here, I might like to stay a while."

Aslan let out a terrifying roar, directly at Travis. "I have had just about ENOUGH of your attitude!" he snarled.

"Are you DONE?" asked Travis, appearing not to be fazed in the least. At least, by outside appearances. He knew he was dancing a dangerous dance, facing a creature that easily weighed three times as much as he did. "I don't give a flying FUCK what you think of my attitude! You have no RIGHT telling me and my friends we can't be here, man. I think that's up to Peter and his brother and sisters, really."

"Perhaps, we might just leave these issues for now," Caspian suggested, trying to defuse the situation. "We do have other issues at hand."

"Indeed we do," said Aslan. "Part of which involves you, young prince."

"He will, of course, take the crown that was rightfully his," said Peter.

"Regretfully, that cannot be so," answered Aslan. "Certain events were not able to transpire…"

"You bastard," Travis hissed, as Caspian turned, and stormed out of the tent. "He's already had the throne stolen from him once. And you would do it again? Fuck you, you useless cat." Travis too, stormed out of the tent, leaving behind a speechless group, which included Aslan.

It was nearly a minute before anyone could say anything.

"I daresay," Mr. Tumnus finally managed, "that went rather poorly."

"You'll have to forgive Travis, he has had a tough go of things as of late," said Harry, finally reorganizing his thoughts. "He lost his partner during a battle about three weeks ago."

"I see," said Aslan, "The picture does come a little clearer."

"It's still not right, meddling as you have, sir," said Deric. "If I understand correctly, Prince Caspian is the rightful heir to the Telmar throne. What prevents him from taking it?"

"Miraz still lives," answered Aslan.

"He'll not set foot on Narnian soil again," said Dale. "He did commit treason. He attempted to have Caspian murdered. So either way, he's by all intents and purposes gone. What more do you expect?"

"The Telmar people do not know that."

"We arrested him in front of his commanders," Dale rebutted.

"And they will only report back that we kidnapped him," answered Edmund. "Aslan is right."

"Nothing a few memory modification charms can't fix," said Deric.

"Well," said Ron, "the Telmar waged war against Narnia, why not return the favour?"

"Absolutely out of the question," answered Aslan, surprised by the suggestion. "It is not what Narnia is all about."

"Why not? We already did it once… it was by no means a success, but… if Harry is willing to help," said Peter.

"Sir, we COULD deploy the weapon…"

"Deric, you already KNOW my answer regarding that."

"And what weapon might that be?" asked Aslan.

"From what I've heard, it would make the Telmar castle look like Cair Paravel does," said Edmund.

"Our primary weapon will, if we deploy it, destroy everything within a half-mile radius. So absolutely not, we won't be using it," Harry vowed.

"It is good you carry a bit of sense, son of Myrddin," said Aslan.

"I didn't say I wouldn't help," said Harry. "If the Telmar are anything like I think they are, they'll be back. And like I've promised, I will do whatever I can to help the kings and queens of Narnia, all FIVE of them."

"I have only named…"

"I did not say five by mistake, Aslan. Caspian belongs here, while Peter and his siblings do not. Unless you planned on keeping them here this time," said Harry. He was already much aware of them returning to England, to be summoned back only a few days before.

"I think I would be a bit irritated if my life kept getting interrupted that way," said Frank.

"That's how Susan feels," said Lucy.

"And for that reason, among several others, she and Peter will not be returning to Narnia again," said Aslan.

"And by doing that, you prove Travis' words to be absolutely true," said Harry. "You have no right. Guys… I think we need to properly debrief what's happened today. SOC, ten minutes."

"See you there, then." Deric turned to leave.

"I don't think we're done here," said Aslan, severely.

"I do," said Peter, shaking his head. He checked his sword in its scabbard, and then walked out of the tent. Edmund only shrugged and quickly followed. The rest followed, leaving only Lucy and Aslan behind.

"I still believe in you Aslan," said Lucy.

* * *

_**AUTHOR NOTES**__: First off, I have to acknowledge __**ReflectionsOfReality**__, for her awesome reviews. I think she's on to me, touching on a few points I've been writing about already._

_Now. The battle scene wasn't spectacular by any stretch of the imagination, but also realize, they came in meaning business. Harry and co. had some awesome firepower, and they used it. Magic vs. muggles? The winner here, I think it's gonna be obvious, right?_

_We also see Harry finally pop the question to Frank, correcting yet another mistake he made… or more like, something he failed to do in the future._

_Aslan being manipulative? Think about it, his actions could be analyzed that way. The Pevensies don't realize it, but in the grand scheme of things, Aslan DOES slightly manipulate people. To teach lessons and so on, but that's beside the point. Travis reacts very poorly to this kind of thing, and given his mental state, that's going to be even more pronounced._

_(1) I'm drawing on canon here. Remember when Hermione took the polyjuice potion in 2__nd__ year, and she accidentally used hairs from Millicent Bulstrode's cat. It wasn't a complete transformation, and somewhat messy. So the men wouldn't do a complete transformation into a werewolf, but it would still be absolutely terrifying… and again, remember, the mk13's are also laced with LSD. A strong DOSE of LSD. They might not have the mind of a werewolf, but they would be almost as insane as one!_


	8. Traitors in Their Midst

_CAUTION: more Aslan-bashing. Mentions of alcohol use. Coarse language. Slight slash/fluff!_

* * *

**8: TRAITORS IN THEIR MIDST**

After consulting the map, Harry quickly decided that it would be better if everyone returned to the trunk. The conference table in the library would be a more comfortable place to sit, rather than be standing awkwardly around the table in the control room.

So minutes later, said group sat around said table in said library. Harry had managed to track down both Travis and Caspian, as they were most certainly involved with the events of the day.

"A victory that ends in defeat," said Caspian quietly, finally breaking the silence. Travis only nodded in agreement; he was still seething, and everyone in the room knew it.

"I… I'm still not sure how to take all of this," said Peter. "I thought our actions MATTERED."

"Now we find out that, because 'certain events were not able to transpire'… it's like we weren't good enough… or coloured outside the lines, or some other ridiculous farce… oh, bloody hell!" Edmund was as upset as his brother.

"I find myself lost as to how to respond to this," said Mr. Tumnus. "You have accused one of our most sacred symbols of committing acts much like the White Witch. Others will be outraged."

"I don't doubt that, Mr. Tumnus," said Peter. "Yet his own actions this afternoon give Travis' accusations credence."

"It sounds as though things have gone somewhat poorly," said Lily from her portrait.

"In some ways, mum," answered Harry. "And it had nothing to do with what happened on the battlefield."

"He's behaving exactly like Dumbledore," said Travis.

"No, nothing like that," said Harry, "I don't think Aslan is doing anything for his own interests."

"Perhaps for his own entertainment, then," Travis snorted. "Gotta wonder if a dose of the Cruciatus curse might fix him." That got a few glares from the other witches and wizards seated at the table. "I was just saying…"

"That's pretty cold, Travis," said Frank.

"Speaking of which," said Deric, "I'll need to file a report on my use of it this afternoon."

"You cast the Cruciatus curse on someone? What in Merlin's name for?" Hermione was shocked.

"He's the closest the Canadian wizard government has to the military," answered Harry. "He's authorized to cast Unforgivables if the situation requires it. Although… you weren't in this world when it was done…"

"No, it's still best if I actually file a report with the ministry. I'll keep things fairly general, though," answered Deric.

"Who did you have to use it on?" asked Sirius from his portrait.

"Miraz," answered Deric, "to convince him to surrender and withdraw his army."

"It was rather effective," said Peter.

"I thought several of his generals were gonna piss themselves," said Dale.

"Believe me, using that curse is definitely one of the last clubs out of the bag. It's not something to ever take lightly; it's a horrible thing to do to someone," Deric warned.

"So we'll just make a fur coat out of him, then," said Travis, turning the conversation back to where it had been. "Or maybe have him stuffed."

"Travis!" Harry hissed, while Caspian smiled, amused by the last comment.

"It's a good thing Lu isn't here to hear that," said Peter, although his face betrayed his amusement.

"But the question is this; what do we do about him?"

"I think we should see exactly what you're talking about first, dear," said Lily. Harry nodded and quickly retrieved the pensieve from the storage shelf over the computer workstation.

"My first question, son, is it your place to interfere? Aslan is partially correct there, I think," said James, after the memory finished. Harry had projected the image on the wall so everyone could see it.

"Peter is my friend, dad. He asked for my help, I won't turn my back on him, or his siblings for that matter."

"This… Aslan… is he a god?" asked Sirius.

"Yes," said Mr. Tumnus.

"No," said Edmund.

"Err… we don't know," answered Peter. "He sort of acts like one… but the White Witch did kill him."

"And he then came back to life the following morning."

"Yes, calling it deep magic, or something of the like."

"Most impressive. Not even our magic can bring someone back from the dead," said James.

"God or not, it still doesn't give him the right to play with peoples' lives," said Travis harshly.

"Right or not… if it is his world, he will do as he pleases, dear," said Lily.

"So we should just 'let this all slide'?" Travis challenged.

"No, definitely not," said Harry. "I just don't know what we really CAN do about it."

"It is simple," said Peter. "He doesn't want me around anymore, then fine. Say, Harry, you might need a bit of help aboard your ship at any rate, correct?"

"Peter, you can't just…"

"Why not, Ed? It seems Narnia isn't the world I thought it was. It has been truly corrupted, Aslan included. Just wait until Susan hears about this!"

"And where is your sister anyway?" asked Caspian.

"She is with a group of archers," answered Mr. Tumnus. He had no sooner said that than the second oldest of the Pevensie siblings walked into the library, a sour look on her face.

"I see you've met with Aslan," said Peter.

"What did you say to him? I've NEVER seen him this upset."

"You better sit down, we've discovered a few things," said Peter, gesturing to a vacant seat. She sat down and was quickly filled in on the uncomfortable discussion that took place with the lion.

"Lucy still blindly believes he can do no wrong, I saw that as we left," said Edmund.

"I'm not surprised there," said Susan. "She saw Aslan long before we did. And she always knew she would return to Narnia one day."

"Still, Susan, it is obvious now we aren't wanted there anymore. I don't see a point in returning," said Peter.

"I'm sorry it has turned out so badly," said Harry, "I didn't expect things to be so different."

"You have nothing to apologize for," said Peter. "I guess the truth always comes out in the end."

"Does it ever," Harry agreed, thinking back to the beginning of the summer.

"How much influence does Aslan have?" asked James.

"Only his presence broke the hundred-year winter last time we were in Narnia," answered Peter.

"Could you not just ignore him?"

"I don't know… we ARE talking about a lion here," said Edmund. "If he were really agitated, he may, well, do what lions do naturally. He DID kill the White Witch."

"Not to mention, we did get our titles and authority from him, who is to say he won't just revoke them?" Susan pointed out.

"Something Trufflehunter said… Aslan would likely not do so," said Caspian.

"That was?"

"He said, 'Narnia was never right except when a son of Adam was king'," answered Caspian. Travis rolled his eyes again. "Perhaps my professor might be able to help us out."

"Back to Narnia, then?"

"I guess so," said Harry.

The rest of the afternoon was spent in further discussions with Dr. Cornelius, Caspian's tutor. He was able to provide some background on Telmarine culture and process, but mostly drew a blank when it came to the politics of Narnia. If only he could access his library back at castle Telmar.

"That's absurd! Need I remind you of our LAST attempt at that castle?" Peter swore. The group was again gathered under the canopy, and this time, a number of Narnians joined them.

"Look, though. We don't have to worry about storming the place," said Harry. "I think Dr. Cornelius needs his books. We only need a few people to go along. We take a port key directly into his library… that's if the professor doesn't mind giving us a location from his memory."

"I am not sure what you mean," said Dr. Cornelius.

"I would briefly peer into your mind, you provide the memory of your library so I can gather the location. Then we make a port key to take us there."

"Your majesty… you need to see this," said a faun, joining the group.

"What is it?" asked Peter.

"You just need to see it."

"I'll come along," offered Harry.

Several minutes later, the Boy-Who-Lived and the High King of Narnia were led to the object of the faun's excitement. A group of Telmarine soldiers were waiting at the edge of the woods, with several centaurs.

"What's this about? Weren't you told…" Peter had his hand on the hilt of his sword by instinct.

"Your majesty," began one of the soldiers, dropping to one knee, head bowed, "we submit to your leadership and your rule, if you will accept us."

"You would defy your commanders?"

"Yes," said the soldier.

"Peter, they could be of use," said Harry.

"You are asking me to trust men who hours ago were fighting AGAINST us!" answered Peter, although he came across as sounding confused.

"You trust Caspian."

"That's different, he's… he called US back to Narnia in the FIRST place!"

"I can get to the bottom of this," said Harry. "You." He gestured to the speaker. "Hold still for a moment. If you are being honest, I will accept your help. If you are not…" He gestured to the centaurs. "You will have to answer to them." The soldier only nodded, and Harry pushed into the man's mind. It took him slightly longer than expected, but he at last withdrew. The soldier looked at him expectantly.

"He is being honest," said Harry.

"Then come with us. And I warn you. One hint of any of you doing anything suspicious, the penalties will be severe. I have no tolerance for nonsense, and neither do those who serve me," said Peter.

"We understand, your majesty."

Returning to the beach, they again found Aslan speaking with the group. Travis looked angry, but was saying nothing.

"All right there, mate?" asked Ron, seeing Harry.

"Yeah, fine," answered Harry.

"Defections from the Telmarine army," said Peter.

"How many?"

"15 or 20, maybe," answered Harry. "Deric, they could be useful if trained with muggle weapons." Deric only nodded, whispering something to Dale.

"You charge me with interfering, yet, you yourself are doing the exact same thing," said Aslan.

"Since I will not be returning to Narnia, I must… we, as Narnia's rulers… have to find a way to ensure what's happened here over the past 1300 years doesn't repeat itself. Part of that is making it clear that further interference from Telmar will not be tolerated," Peter answered. On the quick walk back from the edge of the woods, he had thought things over; this was one approach, and it seemed the logical one.

"Also, don't forget my promise," said Harry. "I meant it. We'll have to set up something so I may honour it."

"Why do you insist…"

"Aslan, you know absolutely NOTHING about me, or the dragon shit I have gone through," Harry snapped. "About 40 years into my future, I stepped into this world for the first time. I found nothing but peace and joy here, something I had not experienced in over 15 years. You would take that from me?"

"If I could, yes, I would," answered the lion.

"That's cold, man," said Frank, shaking his head.

"Harry, your world should never have been allowed to enter this one, it is defying the laws of time and space; surely you understand that," said Aslan. "Your being here has already had consequences, and your further intrusions here will only result in more, that will be far more reaching, and far more severe."

"But what if Harry was MEANT to come here? What if he was MEANT to help us?" challenged Edmund. "Called here by a force more powerful than you?"

"That would make me VERY concerned."

"I believe in both fate and destiny," said Harry. "I mean, a prophecy about me is already in motion, one that I am destined to fulfill one way or another. If fate decided I needed to be here for some reason, then so be it. Because, I think, if fate or destiny didn't want me to be somewhere, I wouldn't BE there. There are obviously lessons or whatever I am to learn here, whether you want us here or not. I'm sorry if I upset your little plan or whatever you have going on here, but when a friend asks for help, I won't turn them down. That's the way I am, that's the way I've ALWAYS been."

"He has faced V-v-v-… You-Know-Who five times now, and lived to tell about it," said Ron.

"The same monster who has stolen his parents, stole my partner, and just… he wants to rule the wizard world. Say Harry, too bad we couldn't bring Voldemort here… see if Aslan can deal with him and HIS horrors," Travis declared.

"No, Travis. That's not something I would ever wish on anyone, or any place. Showing what it's actually like to face him, on the other hand…" Harry got an idea. "I need my pensieve, I will be back." He touched his bracelet, thinking, 'take me home', and vanished.

He returned a few minutes later, having to travel through the bunker.

"You can show memories?" asked Aslan.

"Yes. Peter, Susan, Ed, Lu, and Mr. Tumnus have seen these already, so they know what to expect… and of course, so have most of my friends here from my world. The rest of you haven't," said Harry, placing the pensieve on a table Travis had provided, having transfigured a stone. He then placed his wand to his temple and drew out a long, silvery strand that looked like a wisp of smoke, then dropped it into the bowl. He tapped the bowl once with his wand, and then stuck a finger into the then shimmering liquid.

The first memory Harry chose was from over two years prior, at the end of the Tri-wizard tournament. It still hurt, reliving such a memory; yet it also showed exactly what Voldemort was all about, in terrifying, naked truth.

The second was of the events at the Ministry of Magic the following year. One that was equally as painful, as he once again had to endure seeing Sirius fall through the veil. He needed to take several minutes before continuing.

The last one, dealt with the events of just a few weeks earlier, during the concert in London. That was particularly painful for not only Harry, but Travis as well, and if not more so, as he lost his partner during the attack.

Harry finally sat down, replacing the silvery strands of memories in his mind.

"I hope… now you understand… where I'm coming from," Harry managed, as Frank attempted to pull him into a comforting hug. "Oh. And here's what he's been up to lately," he added, tossing the stack of photos on the table beside the pensieve.

"And you would rather interfere in our world than face him?" asked Aslan, spreading the photos with his paw. He started, seeing the horrifying images. "He… did this?"

"Now you get it? I don't plan on staying here forever, bloody hell, the longer I'm here, the more chances he has to do shit like that." Harry gestured to the photos. "Like I said, I had an opportunity to help here, and so I did, and I don't regret that. This is something I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. A lesser person would just…"

"Go spare?" offered Ron.

"I'm not crying a woe-is-me story here… I mean, sympathy is the LAST thing I want. What I do want is a bit of understanding, and just maybe a little… err… what's the American expression…"

"Slack?" said Frank.

"That's it, right. I have made a lot of great friends here… I mean, had I not, I wouldn't have been bothered."

"What is to stop this… Voldemort… from following you here?" asked a badger named Trufflehunter.

"The original portal we created was in fact only a port key. That has been spent, and no longer exists. Once we remove our private teleport pads or port keys, the connection here will be broken. While still active, they are private, and only those who have been keyed into them can actually use them," Harry explained.

"They had a teleport pad set up at Cair Paravel last time they were here," said Peter.

"And how long did you visit last time?" asked Aslan.

"About a month all in all," answered Harry. "We very much enjoyed the break, after constant battles and so on."

"Until your war came here," said Susan.

"Yes, the saboteur," said Harry. "A Death Eater, one of three of them that somehow managed to infiltrate the crews of the three ships. Invincible had to be left behind here."

"As fascinating as this explanation is, it still does not solve our current issue," said Caspian.

"No, it doesn't, does it?" said Harry. "We've gotten way off track here. What happens when Peter and his siblings return to England?"

"And is it true that my brother and I will not be allowed back?" asked Susan.

"It is true. You have learned all you can from Narnia," answered Aslan.

"What a load of horse shit," Travis growled. "We can ALWAYS learn, like fuck, we never stop learning, as long as we breathe. And from what I saw this afternoon, Narnia's in no better hands than Peter's, Caspian here coming a VERY close second. They were awesome together."

"Is that so?" asked the lion.

"I can supply a pensieve memory if you doubt them."

"You know… there is another option," said Frank. "I mean, the Invincible's got a ton of room, right?"

"And it can be magically expanded inside if necessary… why?"

"How about this? Caspian, Peter, and his brother and sisters, along with anyone else who wants to… come with us."

There was an eruption of voices.

"NO!"

"That's absurd!"

"Narnia is our home!"

"Why not?"

Harry, meanwhile, sat back, mulling over the audacious idea put forward by his new mate. 'It could work', he thought to himself, 'although it would put them at risk… yet, not if done carefully.'

"ENOUGH!" Aslan half-shouted, half-roared. The room went silent. "Such foolish nonsense, son of Adam! I think Harry has already demonstrated as to exactly WHY you could never do such a thing."

"I might consider actually going along with that," said Caspian. "If my people want Narnia so much, then let them have it. We shall strike out, and set down our roots elsewhere."

"Protected by magic… a place where Voldemort or those like him could never find it," Travis added.

"I don't know if we COULD," said Harry. "I mean, in theory, we might… I mean, I don't know the limits of wizard space… it's something to look into… and I don't want to make a load of promises we can't keep. The last thing I want is for any of you to be hurt because of me."

"I don't know what to say here… it all sounds great and somewhat possible… yet…" said Peter.

"It is your decision, your majesty," said Reepicheep. "We shall follow."

"Peter, we must think about this, and very carefully," said Susan.

"You would just turn your back on Aslan?" Lucy still stood by the great lion, and the ideas being thrown around most certainly bothered her.

"What would convince you to do otherwise?" asked the lion.

"I think you already KNOW the answer to that," Travis snorted. "Stop interfering. Whatever game plan you have going, toss it in the shredder, the garbage, or whatever."

"Aslan, we welcome your guidance. Your interference, we do not," said Peter.

"Very well, then. If it is what you wish, as rulers of Narnia, so I shall abide."

"And Aslan. If there is further interference…" said Travis.

"We will carry out Travis' threat," Edmund finished, getting a nod from Peter.

"One more thing," Peter added, "I think someone else deserves his title now."

"That was not…" began Aslan.

"It is in my opinion," said Peter.

"Very well. You must eliminate Miraz. Demonstrate to the Telmar the traitor he is," said Aslan. "Accomplish that, and Caspian will gain his throne."

"It was what we were discussing before we were interrupted," said Peter.

"Yes, right, gaining access to the professor's library," said Harry, "Although now, I think it's more important we go as an official party, and not to access the professor's library. We instead question Miraz under Veritaserum. Force him to confess his crimes in front of the Telmar people."

"What is verity… serum?" asked Trufflehunter.

"Veritaserum… it's a powerful truth serum. Just a few drops will make a person tell their deepest secrets," explained Travis.

"We'll also want a back up plan, in the event they don't believe him," said Harry.

"What about moving the Invincible?" suggested Susan. "Your ship might be a deterrent."

"It might work. But no, actually, I know what I'll do. Or one of the things I'll do." He reached into his pocket, and tossed Caspian a gold coin. "That's an emergency port key back to the trunk. Use it any time."

"How does it work?"

"While holding it, think, 'take me home'. It will instantly transport you to the common room of the trunk."

"Will ours still work? I still have mine," said Peter.

"So do I," said Edmund.

"They should, I mean, I gave them to you in the first place, and… well, the trunk is still the trunk."

"The radios… we could use those too," suggested Frank.

"You… will be in a Hornet, I think," said Harry, "as well as you two…" he gestured to the twins. "You guys…" Harry gestured toward the six SAU members still present, headed by Deric, "will help with escorting us into the castle, and providing security, while we question Miraz in front of witnesses."

"The best place to do so would be in the council chambers itself," offered Caspian. "We at least get the council members to witness."

"That might work," said Dr. Cornelius.

"What would really help, would be some sort of plan of the castle," said Harry. "The computer on the Invincible could create a live map, something like the general map of Narnia."

"Would memories suffice?" asked Caspian.

"Yeah, I think so."

"Then I will offer mine as well," said Dr. Cornelius.

oOo

Mid-morning the next day, a large group of Narnians, led by Peter and Caspian, returned to Castle Telmar. Harry had decided not to move the Invincible. He figured the Hornets would be enough. A message had been delivered the previous evening, announcing their visit; Harry and Caspian had delivered it by apparating directly to council chambers while they hid under Harry's invisibility cloak.

Indeed, as the group entered the courtyard, they were met by several Telmar lords, including one who wore a crown.

"That is not your crown to wear, Sopespian," said Caspian.

"We will see, will we not?" answered Sopespian. "The council awaits."

"Just to re-emphasize the announcement left in chambers last night. Should we be in any way attacked, the consequences shall be severe. I am certain you are aware of what we were able to do yesterday," said Harry.

"You will all be treated civilly," answered another Telmar lord.

"Good. I'm not in the mood for bullshit," said Travis. "Let's get this over."

"Actually, we will have two pieces of business to handle this morning. You two…" Deric gestured to two of his fellow SAU members, "go with Dr. Cornelius up to his library and help him pack."

"Shall we take him back to the Invincible when done?" asked one of the soldiers.

"Yeah, that's probably best," said Deric.

"This way, then," said Dr. Cornelius. He and two SAU members separated from the group.

"I shall go as well," offered a centaur, following.

"I will NOT have the castle once again overrun with… with… with YOUR people!" Sopespian bristled. He glanced up at the balcony high above the court yard, where a woman nodded to him. Unseen by the party in the court yard, she held a small bundle in her arms.

"We will not be here longer than we need to be," said Harry. Of course, if things went as planned, the Telmar would be seeing a lot MORE of the Narnians.

The council chambers reminded Harry of court room ten at the British Ministry of Magic. It was by no means as big, yet, it held a very oppressive air about it, as the remaining lords shifted in their seats. They were clearly uncomfortable with the beast-folk that were among the Narnian visitors to the floor of the chamber.

"We will not take much of the council's time," said Peter. "It is only to clear an issue, so that we may go our separate ways as separate countries…"

"You were conquered. Why should we…" began one of the Telmarine lords.

"And we soundly defeated your armies yesterday on the battlefield," Peter snapped back. "We have one final piece of business to attend to, which pertains to the true heir of the Telmar throne…"

"He is a traitor, he sided with you!" roared another Telmarine lord, rising from his seat.

"No, the traitor, if there is one, stands HERE!" Peter reached forward and yanked the invisibility cloak off Miraz, who was still bound and chained. A gasp let out from the council.

"You will unhand him at once!" cried one.

"Treachery!" shouted another. Harry waved his wand, and there was a loud BANG that made everyone jump.

"Silence, the lot of you!"

"I do think you might change your tone once you hear what my dear uncle has to say," said Caspian icily.

"Do tell, boy, you seem to know all too well about treachery," said Sopespian, matching the young prince's tone.

"I am most curious. Do continue," said the first lord.

"Thank you," said Harry, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a vial. "This is what's called Veritaserum. When dosed with it, an individual will disclose, truthfully, anything that is asked of him."

"How do we know this is not some kind of witchcraft?" asked the first lord.

"It might be regarded as such," answered Harry. "Where I come from, our courts use it during trials, to question the accused and witnesses both."

"Rather subjective, is it not, boy?" asked Sopespian.

"No, absolutely not. Like I said, the potion forces the person to tell the absolute truth."

"Perhaps, if I were to be dosed with it…" offered the first lord.

A few minutes later, after several questions were asked while the first lord was under Veritaserum, Harry administered the antidote.

"It… seems a valid tool," said the first lord.

"I do not!" said Sopespian.

"Only because it appears as though it is you that has the most to lose. What might Miraz say, should we release him?" Caspian challenged. Sopespian swallowed hard.

"Proceed," said the first lord.

"Great," said Harry, banishing the gag from Miraz' mouth. He started to shout, already fully aware of his surroundings, but Harry silenced him. "Open your mouth." Miraz shook his head.

"Maybe the former king needs a little reminder of yesterday," said Deric. Miraz' eyes flicked to the SAU leader, and then he begrudgingly opened his mouth. Harry allowed three drops of the clear liquid to fall inside the former king's mouth.

"Thank you. Now we wait a minute."

The time passed slowly… almost too slowly for most, as the lords shifted in their seats, very uncomfortable with the visitors that stood on the floor of the chamber. Along with Peter, Susan, and Caspian, Mr. Tumnus had joined them along with three fauns, as had Glenstorm and two other centaurs. Harry was joined by Travis, Deric, and the remainder of the SAU team.

"Right, I think that is good." Harry removed the silencing charm, and Miraz glared at him. "Caspian?"

"Uncle Miraz. Did you murder my father?"

"Yes." Several lords gasped. Most had theories of what had truly happened; now it was confirmed.

"Tell me. Tell me how you murdered my father, so all may hear." His hand twitched toward his sword.

"I smothered him with a pillow while he slept. Being older, it was easy to write it off as a natural death."

"That wouldn't fly in our world," said Travis.

"No, definitely not," said Deric.

"The night your son was born, did you order soldiers to murder me in my sleep?" asked Caspian.

"Yes," answered Miraz.

"And that was done to secure your son's claim to the throne?" asked the first lord.

"Yes."

"No one was injured or killed when Narnians raided the supply wagons at the fjord, were they?" asked Sopespian.

"No."

"Why did you force Glozelle to lie about it?"

"To guarantee the support of this council of my assumption of the throne."

"To again guarantee the throne to your son?" said the second lord.

"Yes," answered Miraz. The first lord leaned over and whispered something to the second, who then stood and walked out of the chamber. Deric turned to follow, but Harry shook his head 'no'.

"I have the answers I wanted," said Caspian.

"We, on the other hand, are far from finished," said the first lord. "If our visitors are in no hurry, of course."

"No, by all means, proceed," said Peter.

The rest of the morning was spent with the Telmarine council grilling Miraz about his activities of recent memory, which seemed to involve the disappearance of a number of council members, and other shady dealings. It was most definitely an eye-opener, as Miraz also named numerous other individuals; those names were documented so they could be interrogated later.

Shortly before eleven am, Glozelle and the second lord entered the chamber, trailed by ten soldiers.

"Wait," said Caspian. "You led the soldiers ordered to kill me."

"Yes," answered Glozelle, "I was ordered to, as you say. Do you think I had a choice?" Caspian only shook his head, understanding at once. That morning's interrogation had shown him just how bad Miraz truly was; it was beyond his wildest dreams.

"I believe we are just about done here," said the first lord. "Are we agreed on the charges here?"

"Agreed," said Sopespian. That was followed by the remainder of the few lords present.

"No more questions?"

"No more questions," said the first lord. Harry produced another vial and administered the antidote. He had actually needed to administer Veritaserum twice more during the morning, to ensure that Miraz continued to answer truthfully.

"I would ask our guests to wait outside. Glozelle, take Miraz into custody, and also wait outside."

"My lord," said Glozelle. Harry only nodded and released the magical binds around the former king. He was quickly placed in irons, and the much larger group stepped outside of the chamber.

"You will never wear the crown," Miraz hissed, glaring at Caspian.

"We will see about that, now, although I am sure you will not see light of it," Caspian snapped back.

"If the Telmar don't execute you… just hope they do… I'm sure Harry here can be inventive… or perhaps, Deric here." Peter gestured to Deric, noting his earlier reaction to the SAU member. Miraz seemed to pale briefly at the suggestion.

"Exactly… exactly what did you do to him, yesterday, I must ask," said Glozelle.

"I cast a torture curse on him. It feels like every square inch of your body is on fire. It's actually illegal for someone to use it, but I have special clearance if the situation so demands it," explained Deric.

"I see. Yes, a most creative tactic," Glozelle agreed.

The group spoke amongst themselves for several minutes. Finally, the doors opened, and the first lord called for everyone to return to the chamber. Most remained at the doors, while Glozelle and several guards led Miraz to the centre of the room.

"Miraz. Brother of Caspian IX. Former Lord Protector. We find you guilty of treason against Telmar, eight times over," said the first lord.

"You have waged a war against the Telmar people from within," said the second lord. "You have disrupted the lines of succession with your own greed… something that will seed doubt in the Telmar people, of our capability to lead. It is hoped that our action today will put a stop to that corruption, which you have so heavily laced the crown and this council WITH."

"It is the decision of this council that for your crimes, Miraz, you shall be executed by firing squad at sundown this evening," said a third lord. Miraz only looked down at the floor as the sentence was passed.

"High King Peter… it is the desire of this council… that we open official negotiations for a lasting peace… between the kingdom of Narnia, and the people of Telmar," said the first lord.

"And what of prince Caspian?" asked Travis.

"That would be KING, now," answered the second lord. Sopespian had a sour look on his face as that was said.

"Harry?" Deric nudged him on the shoulder and gestured to the map they had generated of the castle. A swarm of dots were converging on the chamber they were in.

"Bollocks!" Harry roared.

"They betrayed us?" Caspian's face said it all.

"We did not, I assure you!" the first lord shouted, while Harry drew his wand, and made a gesture at the large doors. "Colloportus!" The doors seemed to swell, making an odd squelching noise against the frame. "That won't hold them long."

"Portkey?" suggested Travis.

"My thoughts too."

"A portkey?" asked Glozelle.

"Just trust us," said Harry, again gesturing with his wand and binding Miraz.

"Here, I'll take care of him," offered one of the SAU members. Harry nodded, and the member grabbed onto him, and then vanished with a soft POP. Just then, there was a loud BANG, as something collided with the doors into the chamber.

"I need something to use," said Harry.

"This?" offered one of the guards, producing his sword.

"No, nothing sharp, but something large enough for all of us to grab onto."

"Here." Caspian tore off one of his bracers, and tossed it to Harry.

"Perfect. We're going back to Cair Paravel." Harry gestured at the bracer with his wand, saying, "Portus." The item shimmered briefly. "Everyone gather 'round and put a finger on it, it activates in 30 seconds."

"Does it hurt?"

"No… just hurry up and grab on!" Travis exclaimed. Deric had already contacted those in Hornets, directing them to return home.

Reluctantly, one by one, the lords and the guards joined the visiting Narnians, touching the enchanted item. As the last one touched it, they vanished from the room. At the same time, there was a tremendous crack, and the doors flew off their hinges, a horde of Telmarine soldiers flooding into the chamber.

"Well, where are they?"

oOo

Most of the group were thrown to the ground on the beach just below Cair Paravel. Harry quickly regained his feet and began helping others regain theirs.

"I never…" exclaimed one of the lords.

"My apologies," said Harry, "but we really had to get out of there."

"We could have been killed," said Deric. "With the number that were approaching, I suspected an ambush."

"How many?" asked Harry.

"I would guess maybe a hundred."

"A coup," said Travis.

"It appears as though Miraz has more supporters than we thought," said one of the lords.

"Let's go over to the tent." Harry gestured to the large tent. "We can have some lunch and figure this mess out."

"Knew I was forgetting something," said Travis, as he took out a cigarette.

"Lead the way, then," said Sopespian.

"It appears as though this did not go as planned," said Aslan, as the group entered the tent. The council members were all shocked at the large lion, but still took offered seats at the large table that had been set up earlier.

"Help yourselves," said Harry, gesturing to the many items at the center of it. Even though it had not been there when the group left, he already knew someone from the trunk would have set it up.

"We questioned Miraz in the presence of the Telmar council…" began Harry.

"And we were most disturbed by his answers," said the second of the lords, as he loaded his plate with food.

"It seems that during the inquiry, his supporters gathered and attempted to break into the chamber," supplied the first council member.

"It is a coup, then," said Reepicheep, from a stool beside Susan.

"It most certainly looks that way," said Deric. "Telmar is now under military control."

"Most disturbing," said Aslan, "I did warn that outside meddling would have consequences, did I not?"

"Now is not the time for arguing about it! Besides, I don't think we had anything to do with this!" Travis snapped. He took a long drag off his smoke. Normally he would never smoke around people who were eating, but this had stressed him out, and being nice about his habit wasn't at the forefront of his mind.

"Nor will yelling about it," said Caspian, putting a hand on Travis' shoulder.

"Indeed not, your majesty," said Glozelle.

"From that I gather, you recognize Caspian as King?"

"We do," said Sopespian begrudgingly. "Miraz claimed the crown falsely, through murder and treason." Aslan only nodded. He had set out a method for the young prince to rightfully gain the crown, and they had followed it. Only, unforeseen circumstances now cropped up. The Telmar had been somewhat predictable; now, they were a loose cannon.

"Your majesty," said Glozelle, "do we proceed with the execution of Miraz?"

"No. Perhaps, we should question him more. Determine who might be involved in this coup."

"A wise approach," said the third council member.

"It might be a better option to just access his thoughts and memories directly. Bypass the Veritaserum altogether, and get to the meat of the matter," said Deric.

"If you don't mind doing it… bloody hell, this is making my head spin," said Harry.

"Legilimency is a requirement of my job, although you already know that, right?" said Deric. Harry only nodded.

"On a positive note, should this coup be quelled, we will be opening official dialog with the Telmar people, to possibly form a long term peace treaty," said Peter.

"With Caspian as king, that sort of thing will most likely be unnecessary," said Aslan.

"Why not? Narnia and Telmar are two different kingdoms," said Deric. "The rules of diplomacy should be used here, to prevent exactly what has happened here. I don't know the details of history or anything like that, nor do I need to… but point being, if you at least try and talk to one another… and most importantly recognize each others' differences, everyone will be in a better place. You all have a right to be here. Realizing that makes a world of difference."

"You are talking about years of preconceptions just being tossed by the wayside," said the fifth council member. "We, up to only a few days ago, believed Narnians to be long extinct. We believed you to be wild, beastly things that should not be trusted…"

"And it is exactly as you said, a preconception… a very WRONG preconception," said Caspian. "As your king, those preconceptions will no longer be acceptable, for I see Narnia and its people as a friend, not a place to be conquered and pillaged."

"Yet that cannot be acted upon while we have rogues in control of the military," said Sopespian.

"And I agree."

"There is another angle we can take," said Deric. "Peter, you DID order the Telmarines out of Narnia, did you not?" Peter nodded. "The castle is within Narnia's borders, correct?"

"It seems… it WAS built where the castle of the White Witch used to be," said Edmund.

"Then we could force them out completely… Harry… that weapon…" began Deric.

"You KNOW my answer on that, I'm not about to exterminate hundreds of innocent people," answered Harry darkly, "enemy or not."

"We give people a chance to leave first… Harry, think about it…"

"What sort of weapon?" asked Glozelle.

"It will destroy everything within a half-mile radius. Your castle would be nothing but pieces of debris no larger than your fist."

"Preposterous! Attacking innocent women and children?" exclaimed the third councillor.

"As I said, we give people a chance to leave," answered Travis. "Give them the preconception that we come with a standard attack."

"As long as innocent people are given a proper warning," said the first councillor, "It will result in the loss of our home… yet Narnia is not our home in the first place."

"Your majesty, it is your call," said a sixth councillor.

"And my say doesn't count here?" Harry snapped. "Bloody hell, are you all deaf? I will not be deploying that fucking weapon!"

oOo

The discussion had lasted the rest of the afternoon. They finally broke, as dinner was ready. The Telmar council elected to go off on their own to hold their own private discussion, while the Narnians remained in the tent.

Harry was most definitely in a quandary. The Invincible's weapon was a terrifying instrument; it even terrified HIM. Yet most of the people around him were pressuring him to actually use it. It surprised him the Telmarine council was pushing him to use it. It was completely against logic that they would sanction such drastic action. Even if they announced their intention, it still left the chance that innocent people might be harmed.

Then again, the weapon might not even work, considering they were in a world not their own. That thought was instantly shot down, as Harry remembered the map. The technology worked in a similar way, feeding off the earth's natural energy.

"Harry…" Harry looked up to see Deric and two Telmarine soldiers, with Sopespian at sword-point.

"What's going on?"

"Exactly what we asked Sopespian here," said one of the soldiers. "He was making a rather fast track for the woods, and we asked why. It seems the cat has his tongue."

"Is that so?" asked Harry, his temper rising. He gave no warning, but did a VERY good impression of Severus, tearing into the Telmar lord's mind, resembling a bull in a china shop. Sopespian actually winced as Harry ripped through his mind, looking for evidence of what the man was truly up to. It took little effort to find it. "CASPIAN!"

"What is it, Harry?" said the new king, quickly joining them.

"It seems Sopespian has been busy," said Harry, quickly sending one of the memories his way.

Caspian only nodded, saying to Sopespian, "I somehow knew I would not be able to trust you. You are under arrest."

"I'll take him. I think there's an adjoining cell aboard the Invincible," said Deric, gripping Sopespian by the shoulder. The soldiers had already disarmed him. They vanished with a slight POP.

"Traitors in the council itself, most disturbing."

"Next time we sit down, I will casually look in their minds." Harry paused. "Caspian. It is not only Sopespian. It seems your aunt is involved too." Harry quickly supplied him with the appropriate memory.

"They are still working to put her son on the throne."

"That would make sense, no matter how idiotic it might be," said Harry. "What do you want us to do about it?"

"Your… SAU… can slip into places without being seen, no?" Harry nodded. "Capture my aunt, then. Place her under arrest."

"And her son? He is innocent in all this," Harry reminded. Caspian only nodded, then said, "Bring him here."

"I can have Molly take care of him, I'm certain she won't mind in the least."

"Yes… a loving family, the Weasleys are."

"They see me as an eighth child, and would have adopted me, had Albus not interfered as much as he has," said Harry.

"Sir… we will just…"

"Well…"

"By all means, do not let us keep you… I think you for your vigilance," said Caspian.

"It is our duty, sir."

Minutes later, Deric returned to Harry and Caspian.

"Deric, I need you to take two men and return to Castle Telmar. Miraz' wife is in on this coup as well," said Harry.

"Do be careful with her son, I wish him brought here as well," said Caspian.

Deric only nodded and said, "Where is their room?" He produced the map they had created much earlier. Caspian quickly pointed out the location.

"It might be better to take care of that during the night, when they're not expecting it," said Deric.

"Yeah, that sounds right," said Harry. Deric gave a half-salute, and trotted off.

"Did he just… err…"

"Salute me? I guess he did."

"What for?"

"Well, I guess he's sort of under my command, although I really didn't ask for it that way. The Minister of Magic assigned him to help me a while back. Now that I'm helping you and Peter… he sees you guys as superiors as well. I mean, I'm sure he'll still ask me should you tell him to do something especially dark, or whatever, but…"

"I understand."

"Merlin, some of the stories he's told me over the years… black ops, as he calls it. Dragon shit muggle governments would never touch. Makes me thank Merlin he's on our side. He's someone you would NOT want as an enemy."

Music suddenly erupting from behind made both turn around. Travis was standing in the middle of a large floor he had placed, along with what looked like muggle spot lights. They were flashing different colours, seeming to match the music.

"What… what in…" Harry sputtered.

"Come on, come dance!" Travis called.

"Are you mental?"

"No, but are you?" a voice hissed. Harry turned to find Frank behind him. "You call him mental, you'll have to call me that as well, you know."

"Oh, bloody hell…" Harry groaned, and allowed himself to be led over to what was obviously a dance floor, now erected on the beach. "The Narnians are gonna think we're mental, you know, besides, we don't exactly hmmmmf…" Frank silenced him with a scorching kiss.

"Caspian, you too!" Travis called.

"I… err…" Caspian only shrugged and made his way over to join Travis, Harry, and Frank.

"This music… it is strange."

"Just, go with it," said Travis. "Just… let your body feel the music."

"What… what kind of music is this?" asked Edmund, also having made his way over from the tent. "It is… fascinating."

"It's called techno, or trance music," explained Travis. "Come on, loosen up, guys… time for a break!" Edmund only nodded and stepped onto the dance floor, after first shedding his armour. He started to sway to the beat, and then slowly got into it, as he observed how Travis was dancing.

Word quickly travelled down the beach that an impromptu party had formed, and soon, the area was packed, as both humans and non-humans got into the spirit of the celebration. Truly, they had scored an enormous victory on the battlefield the day before.

Fred and George also got into the spirit of things, returning to the trunk and retrieving cases of butterbeer and Firewhiskey. They also brought out several cases of their Wildfire Whiz-Bangs—their specialized wizarding fireworks. It resulted in a light show the likes of which neither Narnians or Telmarines had ever witnessed.

oOo

Aslan watched the immense party from the opening of the tent; only Lucy had remained with him. These young kids from some other world had come in and swept away a carefully laid plan. They had so easily made friends with the Pevensies, and now with Caspian and the Telmar. Here were soldiers that had fought against the Narnians the day before, dancing with them tonight! In some ways, it was truly wonderful, yet in others, it was going against the plan laid out for the land. It went against the specific order of things. And what was the strange interaction between the new king and the hot-headed son of Myrddin? Oh no, that would most definitely not do.

oOo

"The stars here… they're so different," said Travis. It was the early hours of the morning, and he, Caspian, Frank, and Harry all lay in the sand, each of them in an alcoholic haze. Both a Telmarine soldier and an SAU member still stood close by, keeping watch. Nothing was expected to happen, but as the saying goes, 'better safe than sorry'.

"Of course," said Harry lazily. "We are in a different world, right?"

"True, I guess."

"Your friends' fireworks… they were… fascinating," said Caspian.

"Oh, their Wildfire Whiz-Bangs. Magical fireworks. They were quite effective at keeping Umbridge busy last year, at least for a few days," said Harry. "One of the most amusing moments of that year for me, I think."

"Your… twin… friends… they are always inventing pranks?"

"They own a joke shop back in London," answered Harry. "I mean, the wizarding world needs a good laugh now and then, and the twins… well, they fill it quite nicely."

"Yeah, but they can both be downright serious if they have to; Jesus, they're good in the Hornets," said Travis.

"They DID play Quidditch while at Hogwarts… besides, they're Weasleys. That's all you need to know… it's like they were BORN on a broom or something." That got a laugh out of Travis and Frank.

"Travis, I think you outdid yourself tonight," said Frank.

"Yeah, I have to admit, it was fun, and we did need that," Harry agreed.

"We've been so strung out over the past few days… I mean, if I didn't do something like this, I was on the verge of actually cracking, if you get my drift." Travis took out a smoke, and lit it, then took a long drag off of it. Silence fell over them as each again fell into their own minds.

As dawn finally broke, the four of them found sleep. The last thing Travis remembered before drifting off were onyx eyes looking into his own.


	9. You're a Wizard, Caspian

CAUTION: Fluff/slash, alcohol use… this has not been beta'd

* * *

**9: YOU'RE A WIZARD, CASPIAN**

For Deric and half his SAU team, they partook in a very DIFFERENT type of party. The early hours of that same morning, they had successfully apparated into Miraz' bedchamber in his castle, where Prunaprismia slept alone, her newborn son asleep in a crib nearby. They wasted little time securing the door with the same spell used the day before to block the council chamber, then swiftly, took both woman and child, without so much as a peep.

Apparating back into Invincible's brig, on the other hand, was no quiet affair. Prunaprismia was very much aware her surroundings had changed, and had no intentions of being quiet about it. Both Sopespian and Miraz were awakened by her screams and wails—both were already in cells, of course.

"What… my wife… what are you doing… how…" Miraz sputtered.

"Quiet!" Deric snapped, "The both of you. Mr. Potter has gathered your wife is as guilty as you are… so she will be spending some time here as well… see what King Caspian wants to do with all of you."

"The boy pretending to be king?" Miraz scoffed, "Weak like his father…" Deric only shook his head, saying, "Whatever you want to believe, man. My colleagues, on the other hand, were quite impressed with his skill yesterday. But, what am I to know… you on the other hand… or all of you, come to think of it… your days are numbered, I'm pretty sure of that."

"What… what of my son?" cried Prunaprismia, at last calming down enough to form coherent words.

"Caspian will, with no doubt, love him as his own. What I gather, it's not a courtesy you extended to him. I think that speaks volumes about your nephew's character, does it not?"

"Never! He shall never…" Prunaprismia began.

"It's already being done," said Deric, gesturing with his hand. Another SAU team member had the infant cradled in his arms.

"Mrs. Weasley already more than agreed to look after him, but we won't disturb her until morning," said the team member.

"Agreed. I think we are more than capable of looking after a baby for a few hours," said Deric, pressing some buttons on a nearby panel. The door to a third cell opened, and Prunaprismia was guided into it. "I think we're done here." The door closed softly. "One last warning. As Mr. Potter explained to me, this area is under surveillance. Both what you say and what you DO are recorded." At that, the group walked out of the cell block, along with the little bundle that was Caspian's cousin.

oOo  
When Harry woke again, the sun was already high in the sky. He smiled, as he found himself entangled with Frank once again, and by his standards, that was a good thing. With all the chaos that seemed to swirl around him, Frank was a true anchor, a grounding point.

Then, his throbbing head reminded him of the previous night's activities. He looked over to his left, and had to smile again, even with the hangover. The young king had rolled over, and now lay against Travis, an arm slung across his chest. 'That will be an interesting discovery,' he thought. Then again… 'Bloody hell, I think Travis snogged me last night… several times, come to think of it!'

"Hi," Frank smiled.

"'morning…" Harry gestured to Travis and Caspian. "Shhhh…"

"Right," Frank understood at once, as both climbed to their feet. Harry almost fell over again, and Frank had to suppress a laugh. "Not holding your liquor all that well?"

"Hey, play nice," Harry hissed, grabbing onto him, "I'm thinkin' a couple anti-hangover draughts are first on the menu."

"Back to the trunk then?"

"For that, and Travis' camera…"

"You wouldn't dare…"

"Why not? Remember back in the summer, when he threatened to take pictures of US?"

"Remind me never to cross you, Mr. Potter," Frank teased, as Harry reached over and touched his bracelet. They vanished.

They returned to the beach a few minutes later, both feeling much better than when they had left. Harry brought out a case of anti-hangover draught, as he was certain more than a few others would be needing it. Harry also wasted no time taking a few pictures of Travis and the young king in their 'compromising' position.

"Blackmail material," Harry snickered, then popped back into the trunk to hide it.

"You definitely have an evil side, Harry," said Frank, as Harry once again returned to the beach.

"Well, I WAS possessed by Voldemort on a few occasions, but I'm perfectly cured now…"

"Not funny, Harry."

"Why, it's true, isn't it?!" He again gave a wicked grin.

"I think you're still hammered, man."

"No, I'm perfectly fine."

"Not… I think a dunk in the drink might sober you up…"

"As if you can, Frankie…" Harry stuck his tongue out at him. Frank lunged for Harry, but the teen easily dodged, and from there, the chase was on. They ran up and down the beach, Harry using the many obstacles to his advantage. This went on for nearly 10 minutes, until Frank caught a break, and managed to catch his mate. He easily slung him over his shoulder like a bag of potatoes. "Time to swim, Potter."

"Hey, you get me wet, I get you wet!" Harry vowed.

"Doesn't matter, I have my prize already," said Frank. Harry knew if he could see his face, he would have a smirk plastered on it. Frank carried him into the sea, not far from where they had slept, then unceremoniously deposited him into the water with a loud splash, which ended up getting himself quite wet as well. As Harry came to the surface, sputtering, Frank dropped into the water himself, sticking his tongue out at Harry.

"Cheater," said Harry, as he sat in the water, which rose up to his neck.

"Hey, I knew you would just get me wet anyway, so… why give you the satisfaction?"

oOo  
As Travis slowly began to wake, he could faintly hear people talking and laughing… someone was running about? What was going on? Then, he realized an arm that was not his own was slung across his chest. And hair? Caspian? Woah… ok, then. Of course… a flood of hazy memories started to race across the forefront of his mind, accompanied by the mother of all headaches. 'Way too much Firewhiskey,' he thought to himself. 'Okay, last night I was a fucking whore, that's all there is to it… kissing everything that moved… Frankie, Harry… George?! Peter?! Caspian?!' His head was swimming, as the crazy images kept flowing… 'I kissed… Luna? Where did that come from? And… I did NOT… oh… oh my… MR. TUMNUS?! …Good thing no one had a fucking camera, Jesus Christ… not that there is anything wrong with him… just… ewww… no, oh man I did NOT do that!' He was VERY confused as well. 'Why would they even LET me kiss them in the first place? What the FUCK? I mean, not that…' His thoughts were interrupted, as Caspian shifted. Travis turned his head to face him.

"I am sorry… I hope…" the young king began.

"No, um, don't worry about it," Travis grinned. Just then, there was a splash, and both sat up to see what was going on. "I see some people are having fun already."

"They… do that often?"

"They're absolutely nuts about each other," said Travis, getting into a more comfortable sitting position, and fishing out his pack of cigarettes. "Took me less than a DAY to see it. Now they're getting married… I mean, some people might think it's too fast… I don't think it was fast enough, personally. They will grow old together, I think." He lit up a cigarette, and took a drag. "See, Harry needs all the love he can get, he's not had much of it early on in his life. I mean, it's not my story to tell, but…"

"I think I can understand that," said Caspian, "I can easily relate; my uncle did not exactly show me much love either." Travis only nodded. Then he said, "Caspian. I'm sorry if I acted like an ass last night, man."

"You did not by any means offend me…"

"I kissed you."

"So? I am not offended by that at all."

"I'm gonna be grilled big time either way… man, I was so STUPID!"

"No, from all I saw of you, you enjoyed yourself and the company of your friends."

"I kissed Mr. Tumnus, for fuck's sake!! What's HE gonna think of me?"

"No less, I would imagine… I do remember, correctly, both of you DID dance together for a time, as did WE."

"We did?"

"We did. And I do not know if you noticed, but the… err… twins danced with each other too at one point… rather amusing, I have to say."

"No doubt," said Travis, "Okay, so I wasn't the only one acting like a complete ass last night." He took another drag off his smoke, trying to determine how best to put out the number of 'fires' he may have inadvertently set.

"So, Mr. Carter, did we have fun last night?" Frank grinned, as he and Harry at last pulled themselves out of the sea.

"Ha-ha, very funny."

"I TOLD you he was mental, Frankie," Harry teased.

"Well, I mean, we DID find out he's a good kisser, right? I mean, he kissed more people last night than I have in my… err… never mind."

"Shut up…"

"Grumpy are we?" Harry stuck his tongue out at Travis, who promptly produced his wand. "Leviocorpus!" Harry suddenly found himself hanging upside down by the ankle.

"You knew you were playing with fire, Harry," said Frank, grinning, while Travis levitated Harry over to the water again, and dumped him, with a large splash.

"Anyone ELSE want a laugh at my expense?" Travis asked, sounding serious. His eyes betrayed his amusement, however.

"You… -cough- want to play –cough- THAT game" Harry wheezed, "Okay with me!" He produced his wand, and charged at Travis, launching several jinxes at him. Travis easily deflected them, and responded with his own.

"Oh God, here we go again," Frank groaned.

As the curses, jinxes, and hexes flew, the noise woke numerous others who had fell asleep on the beach. They quickly gave the duel a wide berth, not wanting to be caught in the cross fire. They travelled up and down the beach, in the water, and out, Harry pushing Travis to his limit. They used the tent and the canopy as obstacles, paying little attention to the people they were disturbing.

Peter and his siblings had once again slept in the large tent, which had been again magically enlarged, and then contained amenities making it more comfortable for sleeping. Aslan had also joined them, although he maintained a distance. The meeting the previous day had created a rift between lion and monarchs.

That was not the issue at the moment, however, as several loud bangs woke the occupants of the tent.

"Oh, good grief, it's too bloody early…" Peter moaned.

"Harry again?" guessed Edmund.

"No doubt, he's picked someone to duel with." Peter rolled his eyes. He stood, and made his way out of the tent, followed by Edmund and Susan.

As he guessed, Harry and Travis were indeed locked in a duel, as the colourful curses and hexes flew.

"They are doing this on purpose?" asked Aslan, also joining them.

"Yes. They almost killed each other, apparently, before they came back to Narnia… blew up the dining room one night cursing each other, so says Harry. Then there was a couple of nights ago, when they destroyed another room… and there they decided it might be good to… well, do it more often," Peter explained.

"It might have been better, had they taken it elsewhere… with so many others around… someone may get hurt," said Aslan.

"I don't think they're really using anything dangerous," said Edmund, "I mean, nothing that can't be fixed. Besides, I think the others are finding this rather amusing."

oOo  
Travis was having a difficult time as it was, with the strength of Harry's curses. Although he had certainly instigated it, Harry was the far better duellist (after all, Travis had only faced Voldemort once, whereas Harry had done it 6 times in his young life). He was certainly able to hold his own, but by no means could he ever best Harry, at least not without using dark curses, something they had agreed never to do.

The challenge increased easily by ten-fold, as a red bolt of magic blasted over both his and Harry's head. Travis groaned, as he now found himself facing both Harry AND Deric. That had certainly happened before, and as with the previous times, he quickly found himself relieved of his wand.

"You're getting soft, Carter," said Deric, as he tossed Travis his wand. Travis missed it, and it sailed over his head, to land at Caspian's feet. The young king reached down and picked it up—to get the surprise of his life. Several red sparks lit from the end of it, causing him to drop it in shock(1).

"What… Harry! I… Caspian, pick it up again," said Travis, excited.

"Why?"

"Just… pick it up again, that… that shouldn't have happened," said Travis. Caspian picked up the wand again. This time, nothing happened.

"Maybe it was your imagination," said Deric, "What did it do?"

"A couple of red sparks came out of the end."

"It looked like miniature fireworks," said Caspian.

"Really?" asked Harry. Caspian nodded.

"Man… I mean, a muggle picking up a wand… well, it shouldn't do anything, at least that's how I understand it," said Travis, "Give it a wave… you've seen us do it enough."

"Do you think that wise?" asked Aslan, pushing to the front of the crowd.

"Why not? He might be a wizard," said Harry. Caspian nodded in understanding, and waved the wand at the ground. A bolt of yellow energy shot from it, blasting a hole in the sand.

"Well, that answers that," said Deric, "You're a wizard, Caspian."

"No! Impossible!" Aslan could not believe it.

"What… what happens now?"

"I think we need to speak to Albus. This IS unusual," said Deric. Caspian went to wave the wand again, but Travis shook his head. "No, don't do it again… we'll get you a proper one that fits. Mine, you'll just blow stuff up." Caspian only nodded in understanding, and handed Travis back his wand.

"This… I… I cannot allow this," said Aslan, firmly.

"Um… I don't think it's up to you. It's Caspian's choice, really. Magic is an amazing gift, one you've been blessed with. What do you want to do?"

"Perhaps we should speak with your professor," answered Caspian.

"That's what we'll do, then. Never expected THIS kind of thing, though… man!" Travis only shook his head.

"Gotta wonder, how many other wizards could be here," said Frank. Harry only nodded.

"Your magic… it does not belong here!" Aslan snarled, "It has…"

"Shut up," Travis snapped, "I don't think it's got ANY connection to us coming here! Guys… let's go back into the trunk, and find Dumbledore."

"I will NOT be spoken to that way, son of Adam!!" Aslan roared, making several people jump. Travis only flicked his wrist, producing his wand again, pointing it at the lion. "Do not provoke me. I have ZERO patience for it right now. If this man is a fucking wizard, and wants to pursue that, I will help him DO IT!"

"I strongly doubt…"

"That I can hurt you?" Travis laughed, "Harry…" Harry only nodded, also producing his wand.

"NO, stop this!!" Lucy protested, running up beside the great lion, "You can't!!"

"I'm only making a point, Lucy," said Harry, "Caspian is one of us. He's got the right to that part of him, as much as it's his right to be king. It's in his blood."

"It is not…"

"One more bout of interference from you, cat, and you will find me more along the lines of 'Son of Satan', rather than 'Son of Adam'," Travis warned. That caused a few people to pause, startled by the young wizard's words.

"You wouldn't REALLY attempt to hurt Aslan, would you?" asked Peter, as the group stepped into the bunker to use the teleport pad.

"I don't know," answered Travis, sounding frustrated, "He's just like a big kid with his sand box, and we've come in and started messing around in it, and he doesn't like that. The thing is, there are real people involved here, people who have real feelings, feelings that can be really hurt. It's not fair to be controlled that way!"

"I guess, maybe, we really need to think about what we're gonna do," said Deric, "Maybe leaving Narnia might be the best idea… get together a group of those who want to come along, and just wash our hands of this matter altogether."

"I'm thinkin' that too," said Travis, "Let's get back into the trunk." He touched the teleport panel, and vanished. Peter, Harry, Frank, Caspian, and Dale followed.

"I see people are up and about at last," said Molly, appearing from the dining room, "The house elves are about ready to start sending up lunch. And Caspian… your cousin is resting quite comfortably, I should have you know."

"Your assistance is greatly appreciated, my lady," said Caspian.

"Yeah, that's great," said Travis, "Where's Dumbledore at?"

"The library, I believe, discussing things with Alastor."

"Great."

"Why, is there something wrong?"

"No, just something interesting happened, and we need his opinion on something," answered Deric. The Weasley matriarch only nodded, and vanished back into the dining room.

"Gonna need some more house elves, Harry," said Travis, as they entered the library. As expected, Albus and Alastor were indeed at the large conference table, looking over some parchment.

"Harry, my boy," Albus greeted.

"Potter," Alastor gave a nod in Harry's direction.

"We've found out something interesting," said Travis.

"We think Caspian is a wizard," Harry declared.

"Is that so?"

"He picked up my wand when I dropped it… and it shot a few red sparks out of it."

"Controlled?" asked Sirius from his portrait. Harry looked over, and saw his parents' portrait was empty.

"Yeah, I guess. So I got him to actually wave it…"

"Are you out of your mind, Carter? Do you have…" began Alastor, but Travis cut him off, saying, "Yes, I know it's dangerous for a muggle to wave a wand… but I had a hunch, so… well… he waved it, and… a blast of yellow magic come out of it."

"Indeed," said Albus, adjusting his spectacles, "Very peculiar. What you have described is indeed a wand reaction to an unfocused wizard, Mr. Carter."

"That's what I thought, too, Albus. That's why we're here. What do you suggest we do?" asked Deric.

"If the young prince…"

"King. It's king now," said Caspian.

"If the young king would allow me… I would do a few tests… nothing that would be uncomfortable or the like," answered Albus. Harry hesitated, as he still did not trust the old wizard. Yet, this was important, and so he nodded at Caspian.

"All right. Do I need to do anything?"

"No, just stand still," answered Albus, standing. He stood in front of Caspian, then drew his wand (he had been allowed to procure a replacement courtesy of Mr. Ollivander), and muttered an incantation. Several different coloured wisps of magic vanished into the young king's chest, while several others seemed to envelop him.

"Caspian… have you ever made anything… strange happen? Things that just happened, that you could not explain?" asked Travis.

"I… err… nothing that comes immediately to mind. What would that have to do with…" began Caspian.

"Usually, a wizard will show ability long before they turn 10 or 11, the age at which they would begin a formal education, and learn how to control their ability," answered Albus. He paused. "Very curious. You have all the indicators of an untrained adult wizard."

"How should we proceed?" asked Deric.

"Get him a wand, of course," answered Albus, "I daresay, there are more than a few around who will be willing to teach him."

"Yeah, very true," said Travis.

"Lovely, a trip to Diagon Alley," Harry groaned.

"To see Ollivander? You won't need to go that far, Harry," said Albus, "He's moved his shop to Toronto." He waved his wand, producing a back copy of the Daily Prophet. "It seems more than a few shop keepers are becoming rather nervous, with the escalation of Death Eater activity." The headline read 'DIAGON ALLEY BECOMING GHOST-TOWN'. The picture on the front page presented a VERY DIFFERENT picture of the alley than he had remembered only months before. Easily, half the shops had closed. "Ollivander was invited by Rundell's, the wand maker who operates out of Baldwin Alley in Toronto."

"Great, that makes it a little easier," said Travis, "I got my wand from Rundell's."

"How will new witches and wizards get their wands, though… without Ollivander?" asked Harry.

"Minerva arranged for a number of shop owners, including Mr. Ollivander, to visit the school September first," answered Alastor, "They had a more limited inventory, but it got the students what they needed."

"Guess we better get going, it might take a while," said Harry, looking up at the clock that hung over the entrance to the library. It was already 11:30.

"I think it's probably best if just Harry and I go with Caspian," said Travis.

"Mr. Potter, good to see you again," greeted Mr. Ollivander, as Travis, Caspian, and Harry stepped into the shop. It was actually much more open than Ollivander's had been, and it was quickly understood why. Rundell was not only a wand maker, but an armourer as well. Numerous cases took up room on the shop floor, all displaying varying degrees of magical armour, all of which held the young king captivated.

"Nice to see you too, sir," answered Harry.

"And how is your 'new' wand working for you?"

"Great. Just, great. Err… Mr. Ollivander, our friend here…" Harry indicated Caspian, "Well, we just discovered he's a wizard…"

"And he will need a wand," Mr. Ollivander finished, stepping out from behind the counter.

"Where's Mr. Rundell?" asked Travis.

"He's gone off to sort out some business at Gringotts. Now, let me see… hmmmm… yes, indeed, you are a wizard."

"But… why did you not cast any magic upon me?" asked Caspian.

"He doesn't need to," answered Harry, "He can see your magic… or your aura, right sir?"

"Correct, Mr. Potter. It is an invisible glow around every person. Some of us are able to see and interpret it. Now… let's see about a wand. Follow me, gentlemen…"

The wand maker led the group into a side room, which had a large circle painted on the floor. It was completely empty, save for several markings on the wall.

"A practice chamber?" asked Harry.

"Yup," answered Travis, "Mr. Rundell brings new wizards in here to test for wands, rather than blowing up his shop." Harry only nodded, remembering the fiasco it was when he was buying his wand. Mr. Ollivander had already retrieved several boxes, going on his years of experience determining a best fit for a new wizard. "I'll have you try this one first," he said, presenting a long, dark coloured wand. Caspian accepted it, and quickly gave it a wave. Several bolts of magic emitted from the end, to impact with the walls and ceiling.

"No, definitely not," said Mr. Ollivander, as Caspian quickly handed it back.

"What… what will it do, should it… err… respond to me?"

"You will know when it is right," said Harry, while Mr. Ollivander handed him another wand. It did absolutely nothing, other than giving the young king a mild shock.

It took the better part of 2 hours before the wand maker was able to find a suitable match for Caspian. The moment he gripped the wand, he could feel every hair on his body seem to stand on end, as a chill ran down his spine.

"Ah, a fine match… Walnut, Kelpie hair, 9 inches even, swishy. A good all-round wand, you will find," said Mr. Ollivander.

"How much do I owe you?" asked Harry.

"8 galleons."

"Great," said Harry, producing his bank card.

"Might he also be interested in a holster?"

"Oh. Right." In watching Caspian be matched to a wand, he completely forgot the other things of interest in the shop. "We might actually want to have a look in some of the cases out front."

"Of course!"

They ended up not buying anything other than a holster, as it seemed Harry had better equipment already pulled from the Black vault and the Lestrange vault. It made no sense to buy anything new, particularly considering Harry didn't really care for armour in the first place.

Getting back into the trunk, Harry found Jeff, his lawyer, waiting in the library.

"Good to see you again, Harry. How are you making out as of late?" he asked.

"Better, I guess. What brings you here this…" he glanced up at the clock, "afternoon?"

"We've been busy in court, of course. I have managed to secure yet another judgement, this one against the Malfoys. Nasty piece of business, they are. The British ministry is somewhat reluctant to assist, but we did get Gringotts to confiscate their vaults. I came to ask you what you might suggest we do with them."

"Well, knowing they introduced one of Voldemort's Horcruxes into Hogwarts my second year… Merlin knows what else might be lurking… if Angela's willing, have an SAU team crawl through them," answered Harry. That reminded him of something. "Jeff, are you able to stick around for the afternoon? I KNOW there's stuff that might help you nail more of the bastards."

"Harry… you make up the bulk of my case load these days," answered Jeff.

"Very well. Follow us. Just, don't ask any questions until I tell you to… if you trust me, that is."

"I trust you… although I do say, you seem to have made some new friends recently…" Jeff gestured to Peter and Caspian.

"Among many," answered Harry, "Follow me."

In his numerous years as a lawyer, what he found as they exited the bunker was astounding, to say the least.

"This… this is another world?" Jeff managed, as he surveyed the beach.

"That it is," answered Travis.

"Welcome to Narnia," said Harry, "This is High King Peter, and King Caspian."

"A… a pleasure," Jeff said.

"This way," Harry beckoned, "The pole here will get us to our final destination."

"You are using your magic here?"

"Of course!" answered Travis, as if it were the most normal thing in the world. Jeff, on the other hand, clearly doubted the soundness of such an idea, as he watched Harry touch the pole and vanish. He shrugged, and followed suit.

Seconds later, they were all in a heap on the floor of what looked like a common room.

"Note to self… maybe travel as a group next time," said Travis, extricating himself from the pile of bodies.

"Mpfft… agreed," Harry managed, as everyone began to sort themselves out.

"Rather comical, at any rate," said Travis, "I mean, everyone arriving at almost the same time and all…"

"I'm glad SOMEONE finds that amusing," said Peter.

"Where are we anyway?"

"Welcome aboard the UCS Invincible. It was something built about 30 years into the future, which I was able to come and recover now."

"Okay, you have completely lost me," said Jeff, while Harry began to lead the group through a number of corridors.

"I'll explain it to you, I promise. Just, right now, there's stuff you need to see, it'll help with your legal agenda, and the Order as well, come to think of it."

"Your majesties, Harry…" said Mr. Tumnus, as the group stepped into the control room.

"What… are you?" Jeff stammered.

"Err… I, am a faun, of course! Mr. Tumnus, at your service… and who might you be?"

"Um… well… err… Jeff Sawyer, barrister and solicitor… I'm Harry's lawyer. I haven't seen something… well… someone like you before."

"No, I am not surprised you haven't," answered Mr. Tumnus, "We are native to Narnia, of course."

"Anything changed?" asked Peter, quickly pulling the conversation back to more important issues.

"Nothing significant, your majesty. I have been watching both the general map…" Mr. Tumnus pointed to the map under the glass in the table, "And the more detailed map of the castle. There has been some movement in the castle… but nothing that would require me using your… radio." The faun gestured to the radio resting on the table.

"You had no trouble getting back here this morning… after, well, last night's party?"

"No, none at all… although I do say, Mr. Carter, you were…"

"Oh God, man, I'm so sorry about that…"

"Do not apologise, it seemed you were having more than a good time, no harm was done," said Mr. Tumnus.

"Only the fact I managed to embarrass myself in front of half of Narnia. God! Complete ass, that's all there is to it," Travis groaned.

"Sounds like someone had a good time last night?" asked Jeff, "At least I wasn't required to clean up some sort of mess because of it."

"No, Jeff, the mess I made last night… well, there's nothing you could do to fix that… Man!"

"He danced with Mr. Tumnus twice… snogged me at least twice… Peter… Frankie… Lummmmph!" Travis quickly covered Harry's mouth with his hand. "No, let's just leave it, Ok?"

"Okay, then. To business. What is it you can show me to help with our legal issues?"

"Yes. Right." Harry pulled Jeff over to one of the consoles, and started sorting through various screens. "Bear with me a minute."

It took nearly 5 minutes before he was able to locate the information he needed. "Here. Documentation on every Death Eater active right now, today. Where they live, their habits, and so on."

"Damn, Harry! You weren't kidding… about this… being from the future!" Jeff was astounded.

"The information here could put Voldemort out of business, at least financially. And if I need to, I'll take on the ministry too," Harry vowed.

"One step at a time, Harry. This will keep us VERY busy for the next little while."

"Something else we could do," said Travis, "I don't know if it's possible, of course… but what about copying or moving the data from the computers here to the one in the trunk? Then Jeff and his associates can get at the information as they need it."

"Yeah, that's something we could do… I mean, I'd have to let a couple of programmers from the ship here into the trunk… but I'm not worried about them… yeah, good idea," said Harry.

"Not to mention… I mean, the equipment in here… it looks like it's quite a step up from what's in the trunk," Travis pointed out.

"Considering it's from about 30 years into the future. Luckily the peripheral connections are similar," said Harry, "I need to go speak with a couple of the programmers. Travis, why not take the others back down to the beach… try and find Hermione. If there's anyone who can teach Caspian about magic, it's her, smartest witch in our year and all."

"While you meet with your programmers, do you mind if I sift through some of this stuff here?" asked Jeff.

"No, not at all… I mean, you know how to get here now, right? we'll be setting up a teleport pad into the trunk soon, of course… but we've got some rather urgent issues at the moment."

"Of course, Harry."

"I'll stay here," said Frank. Harry only nodded, as the others left the room.

"Caspian… I need you to promise me something," said Travis, as they stepped away from the bunker.

"That is?"

"That you will not use your wand without one of us around, until you understand at least the basics. You can hurt yourself or someone else."

"I understand."

"Great. Here, let's try something." The group stopped. "Take out your wand… like this…" Travis flicked his wrist, and his wand instantly appeared in his hand. Caspian copied the motion, although not as fluid, and produced his wand. "Great. Hold it in front of you like so… and say, lumos. Like this… LUMOS!" The tip of Travis' wand lit up with a bright light. "It's one of the easiest things to do with your wand."

"Lumos," said Caspian. His wand also lit, not quite as intensely as Travis', but nonetheless, it produced a decent light.

"Now. To end it, you say… Nox!" The light vanished. Caspian quickly followed suit.

"How do you… put your wand away?"

"Like this…" Travis made another motion with his hand, and the wand vanished.

"I am still not exactly comfortable with this," said Caspian, "Only days ago, I did not believe in magic… at least not in the way which you and your friends wield it. Yet, now I find out, I myself can wield that same power."

"I found out I could do magic, officially, when I was 10 years old. A professor from the magic school I used to go to…"

"You have to go to school to learn magic?"

"Well, yeah, normally. But… well, in your case, you're already, what, 17?"

"18(2)," answered Caspian.

"You would be regarded as an adult wizard in our world, then. You could certainly get tutoring and so on, but you'd be too old to actually attend Nipigon Wizard's Institute… that's where I went," explained Travis, as they at last arrived at the tent, where Edmund, Lucy, Susan, and a number of the Telmarine Lords were gathered around the large table.

"Well, is he a wizard?" asked Susan.

"He is," answered Travis, "Any of you seen Hermione?"

"I think she and… Ronald, is it? They are still meeting with Glenstorm and the centaurs… about what, I don't know," answered Susan.

"Where did Aslan go?" asked Travis. At that, the lion looked up from the large 'bed' he had set up for himself, made of a number of different sized pillows. He carried a sour expression on his face.

"Something I didn't think of… well, with what's happened this morning. Deric… you guys were amazing as always this morning, dealing with Miraz' wife," said Travis.

"Yeah, she's now enjoying the hospitality of 'inmate' class, I assure you," said Travis, "Along with Miraz and Sopespian."

"Yes, so we were informed this morning. Sopespian was also conspiring?" asked the second lord.

"That's what Harry said last night," answered Deric.

"Had there not been interference, and things occurred the way they were supposed to…" interjected Aslan.

"Ok, how about this one? How WERE things supposed to turn out? Since things DIDN'T end up as you planned… enlighten us as to your 'failed fairy tale', or whatever," Travis sneered.

"Two of the people in your jail on your ship… would have perished in battle. Caspian's cousin and his mother would have been sent through a portal, along with a number of Telmarines who no longer wished to be a part of the changed Narnia. Peter, Edmund, Susan, and Lucy would have returned to England through that same portal."

"A scenario similar to that may still happen, Aslan," said Peter, "Although it may be we as Narnians who leave. Not to offend the Telmarine lords who sit at this table, who wish to attempt at a coexistence with Narnia… but if we cannot solve the problem that has come about, with the corruption within the walls of castle Telmar… there might not be a safe alternative."

"And how does our king think of this suggestion?" asked the fifth Telmarine lord.

"That is for High King Peter to decide. Telmar did in fact surrender to the Narnian army. Since we built our home within Narnia's borders, and acted like it was ours for centuries… now the true rulers have come back… and I submit my authority to their rule. Therefore, as I have said, it is for High King Peter to decide," said Caspian. Some of the Telmarine lords nodded in understanding, while a few actually scowled at the declaration. Caspian was king, but it didn't mean they all had to like it.

"Thank you, Caspian. I guess it will really come down to what Narnia really wants," said Peter, "We could certainly impose a decision, but yet…"

"It would not be a just decision," supplied Edmund, "Something our people may hate us for."

"It's also something that Harry would have to agree with… I mean, Invincible DOES belong to HIM, after all. Well, Harry sort of agreed with it the last time we talked about this… but, he would be the one to give the final okay," said Travis.

"I'll also add this," said Peter, "No Telmarine that would wish to join us, would be turned away."

"If we are to remain here," said Edmund, "Something has to be done with Cair Paravel. It was our home before, I think it would only make sense that it become our home again."

"Well, can't you cast a bunch of repair charms?" asked Lucy, gesturing to Travis.

"No. Man, I wish I could. But just… well, the castle was such a large object… I mean, there are limits to what magic can do," answered Travis, with a sad smile. That got nods from Deric and the number of SAU members there.

"What about if you worked together?" asked Susan.

"Even combining our ability, you're still talking about something far too big to be repaired magically."

"TRAVIS," his radio squawked. He pulled it out. "Go ahead."

"THERE'S A GROUP APPROACHING THE EDGE OF THE WOODS, MIGHT BE HOSTILE, OVER."

"Thank you. We'll check it out," said Travis, then clipped the radio back on his belt. "Shit, here we go again."

Instead of encountering hostile Telmarine soldiers, they found nearly 50 more soldiers who remained loyal to the ruling council (they were as of yet unaware Caspian had been named king). As had been suspected, Telmar was now effectively divided.

"Sir," said the unit's leader, "There will be more of us. Those still loyal to Miraz are effectively expelling non-supporters from Castle Telmar."

"We'll need to get into position where we can help them," said Travis, "I'm guessing that would include civilians?"

"Yes."

The rest of the day was effectively spent using port keys to evacuate Telmarines still loyal to the ruling council away from the castle. The numbers of people and beast-folk collected around Cair Paravel swelled, and the wizards were all pressed to their limits, setting up proper shelter for the refugees. Caspian remained with Travis, and although he was unable to do much himself, he still observed as the young wizard quickly transfigured useless debris into robust shelters.

By the time they had ensured everyone had shelter, Travis' head was spinning. He knew he had taxed himself too far that day, and that was the last thought he had, before his world faded to black.

Next thing he knew, he found himself back on the beach, with his mother and Molly looking him over. "He's suffered magical exhaustion," she was saying.

"We were all working pretty hard today," he heard Harry say.

"You all right, mate?" Ron was on his right, along with Molly.

"Yeah, I think."

"You… just… I think you fainted," said Caspian. He was on his other side, with Harry and Frank. "I brought you back to the beach."

"Great. Thanks."

"But, why?" asked Frank.

"I… we were casting a LOT of magic today. I forgot to keep up my energy. Chocolate or something with lots of sugar in it," explained Travis, at last sitting up. He noted someone had provided a pillow.

"Easy, dear," said Molly, "I would suggest you not press yourself any further today."

"An early bedtime might be… and no, don't give me THAT look, Mr. Carter," said Lisa, sternly, "You're not well, and I won't take any of that attitude."

"Yes, mum." Travis had to admit his mother was right. His head was still spinning, and he felt weak. "I might like a bite to eat, and maybe a butterbeer before I lay down, though."

"Dobby or Winky will get you something, I would imagine," said Harry.

"A hand, someone?" asked Travis. Caspian quickly helped him to his feet. "Here, lean on me."

"Back to the trunk."

"Here, mate," offered Harry, sliding an arm around him. Travis was grateful, as the three of them made their way back to the bunker, then into the trunk.

Instead of going to the dining room, Travis insisted in going straight to his room. There was just no way he would be sitting up for any length of time.

"So… does this happen… often, with a wizard?" asked Caspian, as they helped Travis to lay down.

"It's happened to me twice before," answered Travis, "Both after… well… life or death situations, I guess."

"Bartlett?" guessed Harry.

"Yeah, that would be him," answered Travis, as he pulled out his pack of cigarettes. "The first time it was like having the flu or something. I was literally sick for 3 or 4 days. The second time wasn't nearly as bad, but it felt worse than this… hopefully I'll be all right tomorrow." He lit a smoke, and took a long drag off it, then exhaled a plume of smoke at the ceiling.

"How… do you prevent that from happening?" asked Caspian.

"A more experienced wizard… one, their magical core is far more developed… and two, it's just a matter of ensuring you eat," said Harry, "We didn't have enough to eat today… and you notice by now, I'm sure, our meals aren't exactly light. That's one of the reasons why. Our physical bodies need food, but so does our magical core."

"So make sure you eat well. It'll help your magic, and ensure you don't end up like me here," said Travis, "Speaking of food."

"I'll go to the kitchen. Dobby and Winky are very busy, I think we can wait on ourselves for a change," said Harry, then quickly left the room.

"You can take a seat, you know," said Travis, gesturing to his desk. Caspian only nodded, and took it. "This… computer… is it like the one in the library?"

"Yeah. We 'cloned' it… err… copied it. Still couldn't believe it actually worked… it being electronic and so on."

"You can copy things?"

"Yeah. I can't demonstrate, but… take out your wand." Travis took another drag off his smoke, while Caspian again produced his wand.

"Now, the wand movement is like so…" He used his index finger to make the motions, then watched as Caspian followed with his wand. "Great. Now… see that paper on the desk…" Caspian nodded. "You make the gestures I just showed you, and say, 'Planto Effingo'."

"Planto Effingo!" said Caspian, gesturing at the paper with his wand. An exact duplicate appeared beside it.

"Excellent! Nicely done."

"I would have to agree!"

"Most definitely!" Both Travis and Caspian turned their heads to see the twins standing in the doorway.

"We heard there was a new wizard," said Fred.

"Guys. You will NOT be pranking Caspian in any way, shape, or form. Got it?" said Travis, "You do, and you'll have to deal with me." Both twins nodded. "Good."

"That doesn't mean we can't show him a few things," said George.

"As long as it doesn't involve… well… you know what I mean. He's still just learning this shit, I don't want you to scare the fuck out of him."

"We won't."

"We promise!" said Fred, "Hey… mum said you fainted. Is that right?"

"Yes, I fainted. Didn't eat enough today," said Travis, finally crushing out his smoke. Just then, Harry pushed in, levitating three plates of food.

"Where's ours?" asked George.

"I strongly suspect you two already ate," said Harry, as he let one of the plates come to rest on the desk in front of Caspian. Travis quickly snagged another, while Harry took hold of the last one. "Now…" He couldn't finish, as he then noticed Fred had turned George's hair a violent shade of fluorescent green. That also got Caspian to laugh, not having seen any of the twins' antics before. George retaliated by causing Fred's nose to sprout a bouquet of flowers.

"Dinner AND a show!" Travis laughed, as the twins finally left the room to possibly further injure each others' pride and dignity.

"Yes, quite right," Harry agreed, "Bloody mental, the lot of them."

"And… they do this sort of thing, frequently?" asked Caspian.

"Yes. They drive Molly half mad sometimes with their antics. I mean, some of the stuff they do… it's well, bloody brilliant. Still, they shouldn't be attempting to drive their mother mental."

"Some of their antics… might be useful as a diversion during battle," said Caspian.

"True… Rather hard to fight the enemy, when the guy beside you suddenly has hair like George had," said Travis.

"Horribly distracting," Harry agreed, with a grin.

"Say, I gotta wonder, what would Aslan look like, with his fur that shade of green?" Harry almost choked on the piece of meat he had just stuffed into his mouth, while Caspian burst out laughing.

"That's… oh Merlin, that's bad," said Harry, finally recovering, "Bloody brilliant… remind me to locate the twins once we're done eating."

"I… oh man… you're gonna prank Aslan?" asked Travis, still fighting to stop giggling.

"Why not? A bit of harmless fun, maybe get him to lighten up a little."

"Your funeral. Don't come to me if he decides to make a meal out of 'ya… speaking of lightening up," said Travis, "There should be a bottle of Firewhiskey in the bottom drawer of my desk, there."

"I think I'll pass on that one," said Harry, "I'll need to get back to the Invincible."

"Right."

oOo  
"So… how long have you known Harry?" asked Caspian. It was the early hours of the following morning, and they were both still quite awake, although very much intoxicated, having just about finished the bottle of Firewhiskey. He was still seated in the desk chair, although he had rolled it over and now rested his feet on Travis' bed. Travis had swung around, so he was propped up against the wall, and was facing the young king.

"Not long, actually. I mean, we only met a few months ago."

"He cares a lot."

"Yeah, that's for sure. You wouldn't think it, if you knew… well, the shit his life has been… I mean, you saw some of it with his memories. Frankie… man, has he ever helped Harry."

"They love each other."

"Like I said… God, it took me only hours to spot that."

"Did… have… you…"

"I told you… it's still hard for me… to talk about that," answered Travis, his voice barely a whisper.

"I'm sorry…"

"You… no, it's all right… I lost my love to a monster… I mean, I… you sort of know what it's like… well, losing your dad to a monster too."

"I guess that is true," Caspian agreed.

"I haven't been able to sleep alone since that night… nightmares…"

"I will stay with you."

An indeterminate amount of time later, Caspian awoke to gasps and moans from the bed. He had fell asleep in the chair, while Travis had swung himself around in his bed, to lay properly. A sudden yell came from him, making Caspian almost jump. 'Nightmare,' he thought, and began removing his armour. He stood, leaving it in the chair, then eased into the bed. It was a little strange, yet, he saw Travis as a friend, one who had most certainly helped Narnia. The young king would return the favour, in any way he could.

oOo  
As the sun rose over the beach at Cair Paravel, a tremendous roar echoed up and down said beach. The flaps to the tent snapped back, and a violently fluorescent-green coloured lion—mane included—leapt out of the tent, most definitely NOT amused at his sudden change of appearance. "WHO DID THIS?!"

* * *

_**AUTHOR NOTES**__:  
__(1)According to Accio Quote! (2006)... a muggle picking up a wand… according to JKR, well, it might do nothing, or it might do something accidental or violent. So Caspian here, is most definitely not a muggle :D Now… as you can imagine, Harry has probably already warned Frankie a few times about touching peoples' wands._

_(2) Adjusted Caspian's birth year backwards 5 years (2285 Narnian timeline)… think movie-verse, rather than book-verse. Besides, Ben Barnes is absolutely sexalicious… WOOF!_


	10. Now, It's Personal

WARNING: Coarse language, violence, gore. Dark!Harry!!

* * *

**10: NOW, IT'S PERSONAL**

It was the late evening of November 26th. The past week had seen the capture of a number of Telmarine soldiers, all of whom remained loyal to Miraz. They were at this point locked up in the ship's jail. The Invincible herself had returned to her original position close to the beach, hovering about 50 feet above the water.

In said jail, Miraz began to cough and choke, going into spasms. The SAU team member on duty spotted this at once from monitors at the security station, and after signaling up to the Operations Center, he went to intervene. Whether the man had been sentenced to death or not, it was still protocol to look after someone in custody. He quickly pressed the buttons to open Miraz' cell, and entered to help the man, who was obviously in medical distress. The next thing he realized was that there was a fist launching toward his throat. As he fought to breathe, failing miserably, the last thing he saw was Miraz laughing maniacally.

Miraz worked quickly, relieving the now dead soldier, or whatever he was, of anything useful: a knife, stowed in his boot; some sort of 'gun', or advanced weapon; a modern type of 'wrist irons'; a second type of 'gun'; and most importantly, the little card he used to access buttons and such.

That was the next order of business. He quickly swiped the card through the little 'strip thing', as he had observed the jailer do so many times, then started pressing buttons that he assumed opened the other cells.

"Hey Dan, everything okay down here?" came a voice. Miraz quickly waved everyone back into their cells, and then stepped back into his own, leaving the door open. Only moments later, another SAU member entered the cell block, weapon drawn. "Dan?"

"It's… my husband," said Prunaprismia. "I think he was choking!"

"We'll sort it out. Dan?" He brandished his weapon and approached the cell. Unseen to him, several soldiers in the cell he passed quietly eased out of it and came up behind him. He found Miraz, standing over his dead partner, and did not hesitate. Unfortunately, the escaped soldiers behind him prevented him from putting holes in Miraz. They did not, however, prevent him from firing a wide arc of bullets at the walls and ceiling.

"What was that?" Mr. Tumnus looked up from the table and the map, his ears twitching slightly.

"I heard it too," said one of the programmers. "Sounded like gunfire."

"MOTHERFUCKER!" Deric roared, glancing at one of the monitors at the security station. The prisoners had all escaped from their cells.

"Lock down?" suggested one of the programmers.

"Do it," directed Deric. The programmer nodded, and quickly navigated through the console he was in front of, and then entered several commands. Deric, meanwhile, unclipped his radio from his belt. "Code five Invincible."

"What does that mean?" asked Mr. Tumnus.

"Anyone who's got a radio and knows that code… they'll come help. Harry explained it to me. It was the same code they used the first time Invincible was in trouble."

oOo  
"What will happen when it is time for you to leave?" asked Caspian. He and Travis were about to go to bed for the night. Travis had provided a separate bed for the young king, as it did not feel appropriate for them to share a bed. Of course, more often than not, they woke up in the same bed anyway, with Travis recalling nasty nightmares.

"I… don't know, really," answered Travis. "I mean, I hope we can actually set up a permanent connection. It looks like your world needs a lot of help from us, no matter WHAT Aslan says."

"Not to mention, I do believe you might like my company."

"I'll never tell," Travis smirked, sitting down on his bed.

"CODE FIVE INVINCIBLE," his radio suddenly crackled.

"Shit! Sonofabitch!" Travis growled, standing up and picking the radio up off the desk. "Code five confirmed, we're on our way."

"WHAT'S GOING ON?" came Harry's voice.

"PRISONERS HAVE ESCAPED FROM THE BRIG," answered Deric.

"Shit. We're on our way."

"DID YOU LOCK DOWN?" Harry asked.

"YES." Just then, there was a knock on the door.

"Ready?" came Harry's voice.

"Yeah," Travis called back, glancing at Caspian. He had already put his armour back on, and was just securing his scabbard. The door opened, and Harry stood there, along with Ron.

"You gonna bring the twins as well?"

"And anyone else I can drum up."

"We could call on some of the soldiers who have remained loyal to me and the council," suggested Caspian.

"Along with any Narnian soldiers who wish to help," added Travis. "We have to go to the beach first anyway, right?"

Five minutes later, the larger group stood at the post that connected the beach with the Invincible. They included a number of fauns, cheetahs, and nearly 30 Telmarines. Harry had no clue how many prisoners had escaped, but knew there were at least 40.

"What's wrong?"

Harry turned to find three of the four Pevensie siblings walking quickly toward the assembled group. He answered, "It seems Miraz has somehow escaped from the ship's jail."

"Count us in, then," said Edmund.

Harry only nodded, saying, "We go in groups. Soon as you get up there, step away from the pole, and be ready to protect yourselves. We'd better go first." He pulled out his radio. "Where are they at?"

"APPROACHING THE MESS HALL," came the reply.

"Good. We're coming up. You'll have to be our eyes."

"COPY THAT." Harry quickly had Travis, Ron, Hermione, the twins, and Caspian link to him, and then he touched the pole.

Immediately on arrival, they moved away from the pole, after which there appeared a second group. This procedure repeated until the large group was then assembled in the large common room.

"Right. Control, where are they?" Harry spoke into the radio.

"STILL IN THE MESS HALL, SIR," came the reply.

"This way, then. Wands and weapons out," said Harry grimly. His 60-plus years experience from his older self seemed to take over at this point as he began to lead the large group to a set of stairs.

"There's a second way in, is there not?" asked Edmund.

"Right. There is," said Harry. The group stopped. "Let me show you where." Edmund only nodded, and Harry quickly planted the memory in the boy's head.

"Okay. I have it. I'll take half the group that way, we'll trap them in the mess hall."

"Good thinking, Ed," said Peter.

"I'll go with Edmund. Ron, you too," said Hermione.

The group quickly split up, with most of the Narnians, and a handful of Telmarines following Edmund, while the rest followed Harry. They began making their way down the stairwell forward of the common room, which led down to the forward crew area, and eventually, the mess hall.

"Sir." Harry jumped as two SAU members appeared from a side passageway. "Um, sorry. We watched them go into the mess hall."

"Err… great. Follow us. Did they all go in there?"

"Yeah."

"Makes it easier," Travis said. "I mean, we won't have to chase through every corridor and storage locker looking for them."

"Shhhh," Harry hissed, gesturing to the set of double doors, the words 'MESS HALL' on a label overhead.

oOo

"Are you SURE this is the way out?" asked Miraz. The group of 40 escaped prisoners were indeed in the mess hall, some of which finding amusement in vandalizing its contents.

"I remember us coming down a number of flights of stairs," said one of the soldiers. "I'm sure it was through this room…"

"Sire, are you sure this was a good idea?" Miraz only answered by backhanding the soldier across the face, sending him spinning.

"Anyone ELSE want to question my judgment? Standing around vandalizing the room will NOT get us out of here."

"You're right, it won't." Miraz spun to find Harry standing at the far end of the room, while more spilled in behind him, through the double doors. Some brandished swords, some carried firearms, while others brandished wands. "Curious, where exactly did you think you could go?" The room went silent, as the prisoners quickly drew weapons of their own, recovered from the lockup close to the jail. Some had elected to take firearms, as Miraz had quickly understood how they worked.

"I see you've discovered muggle firearms," said Travis, gesturing to Miraz' weapon. "Better use it sparingly, there's a limit to how many…"

"Travis! Not true!" Harry hissed. "Look. Those weapons… they work the same way as the armament on the Hornets."

"They automatically…" Travis had no chance to finish, as the escapees opened fire, sending everyone scattering. The SAU members quickly returned fire, and picked off several attackers. Their inexperience using a modern firearm was evident—not only was the weapon very LOUD, it also had a bit of a kick to it. The enemy's hesitance to use it was costly, as Harry and Travis were able to quickly disarm those still brandishing them.

"Aim to kill!" Travis snarled, brandishing his wand again. It was then the doors at the aft end of the room flew open, and the second group poured into the room. Harry quickly sealed the forward doors, preventing an escape that way. Hermione, seeing what Harry had done, also sealed the aft end, effectively sealing everyone in the room.

"Aaaaah! FUCK!" Travis snarled, clinching his forearm. He spun to find an escapee grinning at him and brandishing his sword. Travis managed to nail the attacker with a powerful blasting hex that sent him flying into the wall with a sickening crunch. He did not get up.

"Hold still!" Hermione grabbed his arm, pointing her wand at the cut. "Episkey." The wound began to knit and close.

"Hermione!" Ron shouted, and she spun around just in time to miss being cleaved by another attacker. "Expelliarmus!" The sword flew from the soldier's hand, clattering across the floor. "Stupefy!" The soldier fell over, stunned.

"Nice one, Hermione!"

"Thanks. Let me see your arm again. Episkey!" The wound closed further, leaving only a small cut. "We'll need to see Madam Pomfrey after, but…"

"REDUCTO!" Travis roared, having spun around to nail yet another attacker. The curse hit him in the stomach, spewing his innards down his front; he dropped to the floor with a scream of agony. "ANYONE ELSE?"

Caspian, meanwhile, had at last met up with his uncle, with Harry and Peter close at hand, keeping others away. Harry had not seen Caspian actually fight before, and so was quite impressed with his skill, particularly considering he was indeed facing a powerful adversary. Their swords clashed once, twice, three times, then locked, as the two men struggled. Miraz finally pushed Caspian away, and both men again brought their swords together in another clash of steel. They again separated, the two men glaring at each other.

"It would have been more wise to stay in jail," said Caspian quietly.

"My thoughts too," noted Harry. "Your men might have lived. I haven't got time for dragon shit. You… might live, depending on what Caspian here decides… your men… will not."

"Harry, you can't!" Peter objected.

"Why not?" his eyes flashed dangerously behind round frames. "You attack my ship from within, by Gods you better be willing to step up and take whatever I decide a fitting punishment!" Harry snarled. All activity in the room seemed to cease, with Harry's words sinking in. This was not a 16-year old teenager that now stood in the mess hall. Yes, it was still a 16-year old body, but within it now was the mind of almost 77 years—almost 60 of those knowing nothing but war. Prisoners who escaped were far more dangerous, and had proven many times to be a liability. In his opinion, an escaped prisoner signed his own death warrant.

"A most noble way to die, then," Miraz sneered, lashing out with his sword once again. The combat quickly resumed across the room, as Harry's words sunk in.

Desperation makes people far more dangerous and unpredictable. Now, not only were the prisoners using their recovered weapons, they also resorted to using objects in the room as well. Travis was forced to duck several times as debris was thrown at him. In fact, one resourceful man had thrown a corpse as cover, and then proceeded to attack with powerful swipes of his sword. It took several minutes before Travis had the time he needed to launch a curse at his assailant. The man dropped to the floor, now missing a portion of his left side courtesy of a Reducto curse. His arm had dropped to the floor before he did, with a sickening squelching sound. Travis was immediately forced to duck as another challenged with his sword, only to be dispatched by an arrow to the neck; Travis did not see from where it came from.

Edmund was in his own battle at this point, against two enemies. This was nothing new to him; during the battle at Beruna Fjord against the white witch and her enemies, he had fought more than one opponent on numerous occasions. He had accepted a set of dragon hide armour from Harry, and as one of the attackers managed to land a lucky strike to his side, he realized how wise a decision that had been. The sword only glanced off the armour. The enemy who had landed the lucky strike paused, as he was sure that had been a lethal strike to the kidney. Yet the boy still stood there, as if nothing had happened, continuing to battle. Edmund wasted no time in landing a lucky strike of his own, dispatching the soldier.

"What are… you should…"

"You should have kept to your own lands," Edmund growled, launching into another flurry of strikes.

Hermione, Travis, and Ron had again teamed up and continued to dispatch escaped prisoners. At this point, they were using full body binds, which would require a witch or wizard to remove. They made their way about the room, quickly ending individual battles, after determining which was the 'bad guy'. Fights involving a Narnian soldier were easy, while fights between two or more Telmarines were more difficult. Yet the trio managed to get it sorted out, and gradually, the battle drew to a close, with only two combatants left.

While numerous other soldiers began pulling the bound soldiers aside, Caspian and Miraz remained locked in a life-and-death duel. Both men were tiring quickly, as this had been ongoing for the last half-hour. Hermione and Ron had wanted to intervene, but Harry stopped them; this was Caspian's battle, a chance to perhaps extract a little revenge from his uncle.

They continued to circle each other, and launch spirited attacks at each other, although that was happening less frequently. Indeed, fatigue was rapidly setting in, and for those watching, it was most unnerving. Perhaps more for Travis, although he would never admit that. Miraz again lunged; knocking the sword from Caspian's grip, then began taking wild swipes, pushing the young king back. Those gathered around also backed out of the way, until he was forced against the opposite wall.

"Now where, young king?" Miraz sneered, inching closer, brandishing both swords.

"You will not leave this room alive, Miraz," answered Caspian, breathing heavily. "Should I die, I have no doubt your death will be far more painful than mine."

"Brave words," Miraz drawled, and launched into another attack, forcing Caspian to dodge and roll. Miraz laughed again, knowing this would only further wear his nephew down. He leapt in the air and brought both swords down in a menacing slashing motion, once again narrowly missing and drawing several gasps and murmurs from the onlookers. He again thrust his two weapons at the young king, once again knocking him to the floor. This time, he lashed out with both swords in a scissor motion that threatened to slice both jugular arteries.

'No time', was all that went through Caspian's head. 'Anywhere else than here!' A loud CRACK echoed through the room, and the young king vanished. Steel met linoleum, Miraz having a confused look on his face.

"What? Where… how…" he sputtered.

Caspian reappeared on the other side of the room, he himself confused with what just happened.

"Sir? You all right?" asked one of the fauns.

"Fine… just fine."

"Have my sword, sire," said one of the soldiers.

"I thank you." Caspian quickly accepted the weapon, and then made his way back to the other side of the room, where Miraz was glaring at him.

"What exactly happened there?"

"That's called accidental magic," answered Harry. "Caspian has been learning a lot, I think." A look of fear briefly crossed the deposed king's face.

"You… you're learning magic?"

"Harry and his friends have been very supportive. Not that it's any of your CONCERN!" Caspian launched a sudden ferocious attack, catching Miraz off guard. He backed him right up against the wall, striking with renewed confidence and vigor. He took a low swipe that managed to slash Miraz' leg, and yet another that grazed his hand. A third strike grazed his right side, but in his follow through, Miraz managed to get a strike of his own in, cutting the young king across the face. The two separated, and Caspian could feel the hot blood leaking down the side of his cheek. The crowd once again let out several murmurs.

"Does his majesty need a respite?" Miraz sneered.

"By all means, if you need it!" Caspian snarled, although speaking hurt at this point. The slash had got him from just below the eye to the corner of his mouth. He suddenly felt dizzy, as he attempted to launch another attack at his uncle, and missed wildly. Miraz landed another strike, slashing his nephew across the back of the legs. He fell to the floor.

"A spirited fight, but not enough," Miraz drawled, drawing out a short dagger, and kneeling down, a simpering smile on his face. "I may die here, but I will die happy in knowing my nephew passed before I do…" He let out a gasp as he felt a sharp pain in his lower back. Unseen, Caspian had drawn a dagger of his own and thrust it into his uncle's back.

"No, uncle. It is only you that shall die," answered Caspian, pushing his uncle off of him. Hermione rushed to his side, and began casting healing charms, while Harry knelt beside Miraz.

"Just before you leave us, I'll have a look to see just what you've been up to," said Harry, thrusting his wand at Miraz' forehead, "LEGILIMENS!"

Harry ploughed into his mind, much like he had done to Sopespian. Miraz actually winced with the force of Harry's attack on his mind. Memories started flooding to the forefront of his head, dark secrets he wished no one to know about. The names of his supporters. Details that Harry might be able to use to help stop the division in the Telmar people.

After several minutes, Harry pulled out of the man's mind, both satisfied and discouraged with what he found. He pointed his wand at Miraz' chest, and said, "Anything you want to say before you die?" Miraz only glared at him. "Fine. ARRESTO CORDIS!(1)" Miraz gasped as he felt his heart seize in his chest. "Now it's personal," Harry growled, glancing over at Caspian. Hermione had managed to heal the ugly gash across his face, and he had rolled onto his side so that she could heal the back of his legs. Travis was also helping out the best he could, not attempting to hide the worry on his face.

"Harry? Are you all right?" asked Peter, as Miraz finally slipped into unconsciousness.

"No, I'm not, Peter. I'm… not." The room was starting to spin, as the adrenaline from combat slowly began to subside, and his younger mind began to regain control.

There was a loud bang, and everyone looked over to the source of the noise. Deric had blasted the aft doors of the mess hall open. "CODE FOUR INVINCIBLE," Harry heard Deric say over the radio.

"CODE FOUR COPY," came another voice.

"Deric?" Harry called. Deric pushed his way over.

"Are you okay?"

"I'll… I'll be fine. Deric. Destruct and dispose."

"Harry?"

"Just… DO IT!" Harry snapped.

"Destruct… you mean to kill them? Harry, that's not right!" Hermione protested.

"NO, THIS is not right!" Harry snarled. "Bloody fucking hell, how did they escape in the FIRST place?"

"They killed two of my team," said Deric. "I can understand his anger."

"As High King, I have to sanction his decision… although personally I don't agree with it," said Peter. Deric only nodded, and then quickly pulled the remaining members of the SAU team together.

"Harry, this is MURDER!" Hermione continued to protest. "Doing this, you're no better than VOLDEMORT!"

"NO! I'm doing what I must to protect my friends! They broke out of their cells, and attempted to wage war on my FUCKING ship! Gods only know what he, or they, planned to do!" He gestured at Miraz. "They signed their own bloody death warrant the second they escaped. Look, if you don't like what I'm doing, go back to the trunk," Harry growled, attempting to stand. He almost fell over, the room seeming to spin wildly.

"Lean on me," offered Peter.

"Thanks. I think… we need to meet with the… the Telmar Lords."

"Right away?"

"Right away," answered Harry, "Caspian. Are you all right?"

"I am fine. I will attend your meeting."

The Telmarine Lords and council members were less than happy about being woken from their beds at the late hour. Yet, Harry wanted to try and secure their support before proceeding.

"I expect there is good reason for us being called into meeting at this hour, your majesty," said the fifth Telmarine Lord, gesturing to Caspian.

"I am the one who called it," answered Harry. He paused as he downed a calming draught. "There was a disturbing incident aboard the Invincible this evening, involving Miraz."

"Two of my team members are now dead as a result," Deric added.

"One of Harry's friends was seriously hurt, and a number of Narnians were also hurt attempting to quash the escape attempt," said Peter.

"Now it's personal," said Harry. "The Telmarine uprising has affected me in a personal way."

"You wish to deploy your cannon against Castle Telmar?" the first councillor guessed. Harry nodded.

"I vowed I wouldn't. After tonight… I'm just not… part of me says it's an evil thing, petty, revenge, and so on. Yet, the experiences I have had… it only says… these people will only keep coming at us. They're hell bent on having their way of it. They will never accept Narnia for what is now becoming."

Peter only nodded at this, saying, "I for one agree with Harry on this. It must be ended."

"If I were to, as planned, offer a way back to earth…" said Aslan, at last injecting himself into the conversation.

"If the survivors want that, then so be it," said Harry. "We'll give them a chance to leave the castle before we actually attack, I think."

"Thing is, the weapon will have to be used, or the Telmarines will not believe we are serious," said Travis. Harry nodded.

"My thoughts exactly."

"You want our sanction and support in the matter," guessed the third councillor. Harry nodded. "Very well then. We will meet privately for a time."

"So you know, I do intend on using the cannon, sanctioned or not," said Harry. That got a few sour looks from some of the councillors.

oOo  
Just after sunrise, a single parchment was discovered in the council chamber at Castle Telmar. The group of commanders acting in charge were in a panic. The note was very simple:

…_At 12 noon today, with the support of our allies, we will attack Castle Telmar, with intentions of removing it from Narnia's borders. You will do wise to evacuate those who cannot fight, for we will give no quarter to those left behind…_

(Peter and Caspian had both signed the parchment, as did all but one of the Telmarine Lords)

* * *

_(1) Arresto Cordis – Translates loosely into 'stop the heart'. Arresto Momentum, if you remember, was used by Dumbledore to stop Harry from falling to his death in 3__rd__ year during a Quidditch match. 'Cordis' is the Gen. Latin term for Heart. Root Latin term is actually 'Cor'. So, putting Arresto and Cordis, you get, loosely, 'stop the heart'. As you can imagine, this would most definitely be a dark curse, one that would not be sanctioned in any way by any Ministry of Magic._


	11. A Mesured Response

**11: A MEASURED RESPONSE**

While Deric and two of his team members delivered the notice to Castle Telmar, several people still needed further medical attention. Madam Pomfrey was unavailable, given an unfortunate Quidditch accident the previous day, and so healers had to be called in from Upper Canada Hospital. Edmund had wanted to wake Lucy, but Harry had declined, only answering that it was not life and death.

"And exactly how did you two manage to injure yourselves?" inquired the healer as he applied more thorough healing charms to Travis' forearm.

"It's complicated," answered Harry. "In short, it was a fight between us and several others brandishing swords."

"I see," said the healer. "Whoever applied first aid did a superb job. They might do well in my field."

"I'll be sure to let her know that," answered Harry with a weak smile, while Frank looked on. Harry had calmed down somewhat after they found each others' company again.

"Harry. I think you should speak to Miss Kelly again," said Travis, as the healer vanished through the floo, "I don't know what happened tonight… but… man, whoever that was in the mess hall… that's not the Harry Potter I know."

"You're right. It wasn't," answered Harry. "You saw my 77-year-old self, rather than my 16-year-old self. THAT'S the difference."

"How different?" asked Frank, plopping down in one of the chairs in front of the fireplace.

"Like… just… he became very cold, uncaring… he… he just had the survivors executed," said Travis uneasily.

"I stopped caring," answered Harry sadly. "They just… Miraz just… he set me off. He gave me the impression they just… they would never stop attacking, until either they are dead, or the Narnians are. I just gave up caring for their well-being."

"It is most unnerving to hear that from you, Harry," said Caspian, taking a seat across from Frank.

"Me too," said Frank, gesturing for Harry to join him. Harry accepted the invitation without hesitation.

"I didn't say I stopped caring for those around me… those that truly matter. I made a silent vow a long time ago… shortly before I defeated Voldemort the first time. I vowed to everything holy, and to Merlin, I would never give the enemy quarter. That's the mistake I made by taking Miraz and his men prisoner. That gave them an opportunity. An opportunity that cost the Canadian Ministry of Magic two of its most experienced men—men who will quite possibly be needed in the upcoming battle with Voldemort. It cost us the lives of several Narnians, and some nasty injuries, all because I did not exercise 'constant vigilance'." Harry took a deep breath, and removed his glasses, to rub his eyes.

"So what would you do instead, just shoot them all like dogs?" asked Travis, very much unnerved by the suggestion Harry was making.

"Yes. Or put them in a deep state of stasis, much like what happened to the men and women in the computer room when Invincible was damaged. To ensure the enemy has no chance to come back and bite us in the buttocks. My policy from here on out, and I'm making it very clear… I will curse first, and ask questions later."

"Unforgivables?"

"No. As you guys saw, I have other ways, just as effective, but not quite as illegal."

"I guess… that's good, then," answered Travis. Even with his hot-headed demeanour, this sudden shift in Harry's attitude was unnerving.

"Hey Frankie, what's taking so long?" Chester stepped into the common room, looking expectantly at Frank.

"Sorry, I'll be back in shortly… just… sorting out some things," answered Frank.

"I'll be fine… go," said Harry.

"You sure you'll be all right?"

"Yes! I promise I'm not going spare, Frankie."

"Well, okay… but look… come get me if you're…"

"Get! 'fore I turn your hair pink or something," Harry hissed playfully.

"It might actually suit him," Chester teased. He suddenly found his own hair was then pink.

"No, suits you better, I think," Frank laughed, planting a kiss on Harry's cheek and standing.

"Well, are you gonna change it back?" asked Chester. Harry only nodded and gestured with his wand a second time, turning his hair back to normal.

"Right," said Harry as he watched Frank disappear down the corridor with Chester. "Tomorrow, we will need to be back aboard the Invincible quite early. Lots to do."

"How early?" asked Travis.

"About nine am. I actually need you specifically."

"For?"

"You'll see," answered Harry, standing. "I guess you don't need to come sleep in my room anymore, now, huh?"

"No, guess not… err… I mean… I… um, jeez…" Travis sputtered.

"Glad for 'ya, mate." Harry gave a little salute, and then vanished with a slight POP.

"What did he mean by that?" asked Caspian, confused.

"No idea. Come on, we'd better get some rest."

oOo

Nine am came around far too early for Travis. He had several more terrifying dreams overnight, and once again found Caspian had climbed into bed to try and comfort him, this time not having much effect.

"I'll need a pepper-up potion or six today, I think," Travis complained as he quickly threw on a pair of shorts and a tee shirt.

"Your nightmares… they are getting worse?" asked Caspian, as he began putting on his armour.

"I don't know… yeah… I guess they are. I guess this is what Harry was going through."

"You have seen much death the past few days, Travis, some of which you directly caused. I think it is quite normal that you are haunted by those disturbing images. One who truly did not care… they would not." Travis could only nod in agreement as he did up his combat boots. It didn't mean he had to like it, though.

"Ready?"

"I am ready," answered Caspian. They quickly left the room and found Harry with Frank, already waiting. Ron and the twins were also there.

"Let's go, then. We can get breakfast while we're working," said Harry.

"What's the rush anyway?" asked Travis.

"Procedures. Dragon shit I only have the slightest idea about, all of which have to be done before we can press the trigger, if you get my point."

"Oh." Just then, the floo fired, and Minerva stepped out of the red flames.

"Professor," said Harry.

"Mr. Potter… just who I needed to see this… err… morning."

"I… we were just on our way out. What's going on?"

"I am most certainly aware you have a lot going on… but the defence club is rather concerned about your absence," answered the headmistress.

"I take it the students miss me, then?" Harry thought for a few moments. "When is their next meeting?"

"This coming Thursday."

"I'll plan on being there."

"Wonderful."

oOo

It was 9:30 before the group finally returned to the Invincible. Harry, with Frank in tow, went straight to the aft end of the control room and into the corridor, to arrive at a sealed door, labelled "CO Qtrs".

"Parseltongue?" asked Frank.

"Yeah. Some of the things in here are of 'sensitive nature'," answered Harry. He then hissed, "Open." There was a subtle 'click', and Harry turned the handle and pushed the door open. Several small magical lights switched on, bathing the room in a soft light. It was easily as big as Harry's room in the trunk, other than the strong nautical feel to it.

"What are we looking for?"

"This." Harry pointed to a small cabinet that was part of a book case filled with Muggle naval books. He opened it to reveal a small safe. He pointed his wand at the safe, saying, "Alohamora." It opened with a click. "There should be three keys here."

"Keys for what?"

"What do you think?"

"Oh."

"Frankie… this weapon… I'm not kidding. It's the most extreme thing you can get before you… before we start thinking of atomic bombs and dragon shit like that. Gods, I don't even know if we'll be ABLE to use it… okay, there are three keys here," said Harry, pulling them out. He also pulled out a piece of parchment. "Perfect, the captain left instructions."

"You're really gonna blow up the Telmarines' castle?"

"Absolutely. The Telmar council supports the action, Peter supports the action, and Caspian supports the action."

"But it's a complete reversal of what you said before, Harry. No one will take you seriously if you keep doing that, man."

"Oh, I think they will take me VERY seriously after this afternoon. I want them gone. If this is what it takes, then this is what I will do. Aslan can send the rest packing."

"I take it he doesn't like what you're planning."

"Oh no, not at all. Too fucking bad. Frankie… you know I would do the exact same thing for you… more so, even. Peter his brother and sisters are dear friends… I mean, we only knew each other briefly the last time I was here, but… we did become close enough that… I would easily do just about anything for them, and for Narnia, for that matter. I hope that puts things into perspective."

"Yeah, I think so."

"Great. Frankie, I would gladly give my life for you, you mean that much to me."

"I just hope… it never comes to that, Harry," said Frank, as they embraced.

"As much as I could stay in your arms all day, we really have stuff to do," said Harry as they broke apart. He quickly scanned the room and spotted what he was looking for beside the drawing table. It was a telephone set. The question was, did it still work. He picked up the receiver and punched in a code. He could hear the set ringing in the control room through the open door.

"Y-Y-YES?" came Mr. Tumnus' uncertain voice on the other end.

"Great, it works!" Harry exclaimed.

"What…what is this exactly?"

"It's a local telephone system," answered Harry. "Did Deric go down to the weapon array already?"

"Yes, he left just a few minutes ago."

"Thanks. Just hang up the set now," said Harry, and then hung up. "I didn't think Mr. Tumnus actually knew how to use one of those."

"Well, he is pretty observant."

"Yeah. You're right there… that's why I have him up here helping out. Come on, let's get back out to the control room." They stepped back out into the corridor, Harry again casting a locking charm on the door. They then re-entered the control room.

"Why… did you use that device… when you could have just come in here and spoke to me face to face?" asked Mr. Tumnus.

"It's a matter of speed. There are telephones throughout the ship, and I may not always be that close. So I could have actually called up here from, say, the engine room."

"I see." The faun nodded in understanding.

"With what we're about to do today, some of these systems really have to be working." Harry pulled out his radio, and then looked up the communications index on the appropriate terminal. He then pressed the 'talk' button. "Attention everyone… could you all please switch to channel eight on your sets. I'm tying the radios into the ship's radio system."

"ARE YOU ACTIVATING THE CELLULAR SYSTEM YET?" came Deric's voice.

"Not right away," answered Harry. "Deric, where are you?"

"WEAPS CONTROL," came the answer.

"Perfect. Call up to the control room on the phone."

"GOT IT. JUST A SEC." Moments later, the phone rang. Harry picked it up.

"Control."

"TESTING THE SYSTEM?"

"Yes, among other things," said Harry. "What does it look like down there?"

"SURGICALLY CLEAN, IF THAT'S WHAT YOU'RE GETTING AT. I'VE GOT TWO GUYS WITH ME. IS THERE ANYTHING WE NEED TO DO?" Deric asked.

"No. Not just yet, anyway. I actually need you to come back up to control."

"ONE SECOND, THEN. WEAPS OUT." There was a click. A second later, Deric appeared in the control room with a faint POP. "What did you need?"

"It's ironic that you said 'weaps'. I'm assigning you tactical and weaponry," said Harry, holding out one of the keys. Deric looked at it hesitantly.

"You sure?"

"A hundred percent. I need your tactical experience."

"Then I accept," said Deric, hanging the key around his neck.

"Here's what you need to know." Harry quickly made a copy of the parchment he had found in the safe and passed it to Deric. "The last captain left a cheat sheet."

"What if someone other than you had found this, though, Harry?"

"The only way for that to happen is if the person could speak parseltongue. The only other person alive who can, that I'm aware of, is Voldemort."

"Right. Who gets the other key?" Deric gestured to the other two keys in his hand. "I assume one of them is yours."

"And you're right. The other person is the XO of the ship… but since we don't have anyone specifically assigned… where did Travis get off to?"

"He went down to the boiler room, I believe," answered one of the programmers.

"Like herding cats," said Deric with a grin. Harry only looked at him strangely, while Frank burst out laughing.

"I'm sorry… you lost me."

"You know… keeping a group of people together…"

"Oh… right." Harry was still not quite making the connection, and only shrugged. "Right." He pulled out his radio. "Travis?"

"GO AHEAD."

"I need you guys back up in the control room," said Harry.

"BE RIGHT THERE, OVER." Both he and Caspian reappeared a few feet away with a noisy CRACK. "What's up?" he asked, clipping his radio back onto his belt.

"Here." Harry passed him the second of the three keys.

"What's this for?"

"The first part of the puzzle in arming the cannon. Officially, it's called an 'Earth Energy Focus Array', or EEFA for short, at least according to the notes the captain left," answered Harry.

"Have you ever seen it fired?"

"I've fired it personally… at least on another ship. I didn't have the activation codes, but I certainly pulled the trigger a few times."

"Riddle's manor or whatever, I remember you mentioned that," said Travis.

"Yeah. When we fire this thing today, you'll see exactly why it is a terrifying weapon."

"Um, Harry. We should get moving, if you plan on being over Castle Telmar by noon hour," said Travis. Harry only nodded, quickly taking a glance at the map. He simply drew a path with his finger, ending a short distance from the castle. His track appeared on the zoomed map at the corner of the table, both of them as a yellow line. "Navigate!" Harry snapped. The map blinked red for several seconds.

"What does that mean?" asked Travis.

"It means I'm not doing something right."

"Are we high enough?" Frank guessed. Harry at once glanced over at the navigation controls.

"Thanks, Frankie." He moved quickly over to the station, and made appropriate adjustments to the ship's height. "Probably be best to gain a bit of height to do this."

"What's a safe distance?"

"Well, when we roasted Voldemort's hideout, we did it from about five thousand feet. So I'm going for that now. Navigate!" Harry called out again. This time, the map blinked green briefly and several instruments automatically changed, reflecting the choice. Harry then pushed the middle telegraph to the 'half ahead' position.

"You roasted Voldemort's house? Shake and bake snake…" said Travis, remembering one of Harry's 'pet' names for Voldemort. Now it was Harry's turn to laugh. He remembered that particular moment from his older self; it was one of the bright spots.

"Travis, you just made my day, I think." Harry grinned. "All right, let's try this."

"I assume the lock my key fits is down in weaps," said Deric.

"Yeah. It will look like this one." Harry indicated the key lock on the weapons and armament console. "I'll activate mine so you can see what happens." He inserted his key into the lock and turned it clockwise. A series of panels lit up around the console, including a trio of labels, two of which were still red. One was labelled 'XO Activation', the other labeled 'Weaps Activation'. "Travis. Your key goes there." He gestured to a bank of consoles on the opposite side of the room. "Normally the sonar officer and his assistants would sit there, but…"

"Why would you need sonar on a flying ship?" asked Travis.

"They actually watch the radar as well, but… well, if the ship submerges, it would actually use sonar."

"As in, actually go under water?" Caspian sounded surprised.

"We never did that too often. I mean, she's got other, easier ways of hiding. But she's capable of it."

"Okay, then." Travis also didn't sound too keen on the submarine idea either, as he inserted his key in the appropriate place on the console. Several indicators lit up on his console as well, showing now 2 stations had enabled.

"Guess it just leaves me, then." Deric vanished with a slight POP. Only moments later, the third indicator lit up, and several more joined it. The central screen on the console now displayed the text, in a large font: "UCS INVINCIBLE, PRIMARY WEAPON SYSTEM ENABLED. DO YOU WISH A DEPLOY CODE TO BE ISSUED?"

"Right," said Harry, pulling out his radio. "Deric? Come back up to the control room."

"ON MY WAY, OVER." Deric instantly appeared in front of him. "What next?"

"The computer issues a deploy code. All of us have to issue it back to the computer before it will actually go active and allow the weapon to charge."

"Charge?" asked Caspian.

"It charges itself by drawing all the residual magic to it that's flowing around. It exists in the ground and so on."

"Will it screw us up?" asked Travis.

"No. I expect it won't take long to charge, though. Last time we fired one of these… it was on the Victory… it took us hours to charge," Harry explained. Just then, Owen burst into the room.

"Sir? You're charging the cannon?!"

"We will be."

"Are you sure that's a smart course of action?"

"I've got official sanction from those who matter," answered Harry, once again slipping into his official capacity. The chief engineer only nodded in understanding, and left the room.

"How did he know what we were doing?" asked Frank.

"Look at all the consoles," Harry pointed out, gesturing to the other terminals in the room. All of the screens contained the text: "primary weapon pre-activated" printed across the top of the screen, white text on a thin red background. Harry returned to his console, and answered 'YES' to the prompt. Instantly, three pieces of parchment appeared, bearing three different codes.

"Why are they different?" asked Travis, comparing them.

"Look. Here's yours. Deric, this is yours. You have to enter them into the computer… and they self-invalidate in two minutes."

"Or if it's entered wrong," guessed Travis.

"Yes. So make sure it's right before you click the OK button." Deric nodded, and vanished, while both Travis and Harry began entering their individualized codes into the computer.

"I think that's kind of weird, the computer wanting three different codes, though," said Frank. "I mean, as far as I know, in the US Navy, the codes actually have to match."

"Well, this is how WE set things up when we designed this stuff. The American code system relies on two men. Ours needs three. Also, we're not exactly controlled by any specific government, so there're no orders to validate or whatever. I mean, I'm not going to go half-cocked, and toast some place just for the jolly of it…"

"Not to mention, we wouldn't let you in the first place," said Travis.

"Exactly that. That's why there are three keys… The three of us have to agree on its use… Now… Deric's entered his code, and they've all been accepted by the computer…" Harry again consulted the large map.

"It looks like a good number of people are heeding your warning, Harry," said Caspian.

"Good. Aslan can send them flying back where they belong, then…" Harry paused. "Show me ETA to target." A clock face appeared over top of the map, showing 11:58 pm.

"It will be spot on," said Mr. Tumnus.

"Very true. It will leave us ample time to a precision position." Harry went back over to the weapons and armament console. He then pressed several buttons, indicating 'charge'.

At once, everyone aboard the Invincible could, at least briefly, feel a tingling sensation across their bodies. It felt like an active thunderstorm was passing overhead. Harry spotted Mr. Tumnus' curious expression. "You feel it?" The faun nodded. "The array is collecting magical energy from the ground and in the atmosphere."

"And it released it all in one shot," guessed Caspian.

"Oh yes. In less than a second. The target is overwhelmed instantly with magical energy, and literally explodes in a catastrophic manner. A maximum discharge will destroy everything within a half-mile."

"And we are doing?"

"About a quarter of that."

"How was it invented?" asked Travis.

"I don't know the full details of it, but I know it was discovered by accident, as most of these things are. In the state the world was in, people were always looking for a better weapon… and well… this is it. Like I said, only an atomic weapon can do more damage."

oOo

At exactly 11:58 am, the Invincible settled over top of Castle Telmar. As she did, several of Deric's team members detonated explosives under the only bridge to the castle, then disapparated back to the ship, effectively cutting off any means of escape. To Harry, this action was a 'measured response' to the threat the rogue Telmarines presented, and by his future experience, the Boy-Who-Lived was playing for keeps. Anyone who still remained in the castle at this point would not survive.

In the control room, the phone rang. Harry picked it up. "Control."

"HARRY. THE WEAPON LOOKS LIKE IT'S CHARGED," came Deric's voice.

"Great." Harry looked at the clock. "One minute to activation, then."

"WHO ACTUALLY FIRES IT?"

"I do," answered Harry, "although there is a trigger down there as well. Just keep an eye on things."

"WILL DO. WEAPS OUT." There was a click.

"Everything's okay?" asked Travis.

"We fire in 30 seconds," answered Harry, again glancing at the clock above the navigation instruments. At the top of every monitor screen was then the line 'primary weapon armed'. Just then, Peter and Edmund stepped into the control room.

"Aslan is not happy about this," Peter announced.

"Yeah, I'm aware of it. 15 seconds," said Harry.

"I've got all our underside cameras rolling to record the action," said one of the programmers, working his terminal.

"Good. Five seconds. Four. Three. Two. One." Harry reached over and pressed a large red button on the weapons console.

oOo

Those remaining in Castle Telmar were mixed on exactly what the large flying machine in the sky meant, as it settled over top of the castle. Some thought it truly magnificent, while others were most fearful of what it might do. History had recorded the fact there had been something like it beached at Cair Paravel when the ancestors invaded Narnia. Yet, could this be the same thing?

All thought about it quickly ended, as the bottom of the ship seemed to glow red, as an intense globe of energy seemed to collect beneath it. Many of those now in the courtyard quickly understood the true danger the flying ship meant, and a mass panic ensued.

It was short-lived, as the growing orb of energy suddenly slammed down at the castle in a blinding flash, erupting into a tremendous blast of fiery energy and exploding outward at almost the speed of sound. It instantly reduced the castle and everything within it to rubble. The destruction did not stop there, but continued to expand, consuming nearly an eighth of a mile in all directions.

"Harry… I'm glad it is not Narnia you have an issue with," said Peter, uneasily, as Harry removed his key from the console.

"Even if I did, this would be the LAST thing I would do. It would have to become very personal for me to consider what we have just done. Miraz struck out at me personally, exactly as Voldemort has done."

"So you'd do this in England, then?" asked Travis.

"I did before. I won't hesitate to do it again. Now… let's get back to Cair Paravel. I'm sure the Telmarine Lords would like to know what's happened." Harry retraced a track on the map back to the beach.

"In the short term, I think I would like to see my cousin," said Caspian.

"I'll come with you," offered Travis.

oOo

It was the morning of November 29th. The remaining Telmarines who had fled the castle had been rounded up, and were then gathered at the Dancing Lawn. The Narnian army surrounded the large group, while Caspian, Peter, Susan, Edmund, Lucy, Harry, Travis, and Deric stood before them, along with Aslan.

"Narnia belongs to the Narnians just as it does to man," began Caspian, "however, it seems none of you will ever accept that. It is our decision that you be hereby banished from Narnia; Aslan has agreed to return you to the home of our forefathers."

"It has been generations since we left Telmar," said one of the soldiers.

"We are not referring to Telmar. Your ancestors were sea-faring brigands, pirates run aground on an island. There they found a cave, a rare chasm that brought them here from their world, the same world as our kings and queens," explained Aslan, Looking at Peter and his siblings as he spoke. "It is to that island I will return you. It is a good place for any who wish to make a new start." He made a gesture with his paw, and a large tree seemed to twist, a large opening forming at the bottom of its trunk, large enough for an individual to pass through it.

"How do we know he is not leading us to our deaths?!" exclaimed a Telmarine peasant.

"I can assure you…" began Aslan.

"Assure us nothing!" shouted another peasant.

"ENOUGH!" Harry shouted, brandishing his wand. "Your only choice is to go through the portal Aslan has provided. The other…"

"I don't think we really need to spell it out," said Travis. "You are being expelled, and this is your only choice."

"Trust me when I say you will not be harmed traveling through the portal," said Aslan. Another peasant only nodded, and cautiously approached the portal. He sighed, stepped through, and vanished.

One by one, more people drew up the courage to approach the portal and slip through, until a steady line formed.

"I have to say, this is going more smoothly than I expected," said Peter.

"I'm glad. I'd rather not have to make an example out of someone," said Travis. "Jesus, I've already got enough blood on my hands in the days I've spent here."

"A feeling I know all too well," Harry agreed. "This is the last place I wished to be involved in bloodshed."

"I guess the next question is… what now?"

"Tonight, I have a DA meeting to oversee. Apparently they miss me back at Hogwarts," said Harry, allowing a smile to cross his face. It was no secret he missed Hogwarts equally as much.

"Yes, right, your student group you founded in fifth year," said Edmund.

"I have friends taking care of things, but up to the beginning of this month, I was taking a more 'hands on' approach. Then all the dragon shit happened on Frankie's birthday, and… I just…"

"You've needed to heal," said Aslan.

"Yeah, something like that. Not to mention, being 'invaded' by my future self, with promises of coming back to a place he had nothing but wonderful experiences with."

"I am sorry my people have tarnished that," said Caspian, gesturing to the lengthy line that was passing through the portal.

"It's not your fault, Caspian. I think you will make a great leader. No, I have come to expect being let down. If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is."

"With the Telmarine threat gone, I'm sure your time here will not be so stressful, Harry," said Peter.

"I can only hope so."

"The thing is, we won't be staying much longer," said Harry, "I do have my own war to fight… I mean, those disturbing images Voldemort sent me should be evidence enough. I have to put a stop to him before he destroys many more innocent lives."

"But we can still visit… I mean, we don't have to just…"

"Oh, I assure you, I plan on that," answered Harry. "There will always be a portal here from the trunk. We've made too many friends here to just wash our hands of it. Not to mention…" Harry smirked at Travis.

"Shut up," Travis groaned, pretending to be insulted. Harry only stuck his tongue out at him. "Besides. I think we do have a new wizard here to train."

"I must insist…" Aslan began.

"Insist nothing, we've had that discussion already," said Travis, "Caspian's one of us, so our worlds are intertwined, whether you like it or not. I mean, after all, from what I understand, it was you who introduced humans to Narnia in the first place. You should have known this might happen. I really have to wonder how many more wizards and witches are in the population here."

"You must accept that we will be visiting Narnia frequently for the foreseeable future," said Deric. "I think Harry will need someplace to put his worries aside."

"Especially if Voldemort can't come here," said Edmund.

"Well, don't be absolutely sure of that," said Harry. "I mean, it's highly unlikely, but… he is a powerful wizard… I really don't know everything he's capable of. The most important thing is that he doesn't know of Narnia. He can't get into my head anymore, now that the Horcrux in me has been destroyed."

"Your scar… it doesn't look as raw as it used to," noted Travis.

"It had all but vanished by the time I chose to send my spirit back through time," said Harry.

"I do have to wonder how you accomplished that, son of Myrddin," asked Aslan.

"A lengthy and very complicated runic formula. It took me weeks to set up, and there was a good chance it wouldn't work at all… I mean, messing with time and space is a dangerous thing," answered Harry, "I took a chance and it worked, but I really had nothing to lose in the first place. If it didn't work, I would have been reunited with all those I had lost, and that would have been a just reward for the dragon shit I have been through. No one can fault me for trying. At least now, I have a chance to set things right, and I'm wasting little time."

"That makes sense, why waste time when you already know how it goes?" said Edmund. Harry nodded.

"Exactly. By the time Voldemort knows the danger, it will be too late, and I will do what took me over 60 years to do the first time."

"Um… Harry… it's getting on two pm," said Deric, gesturing to his watch.

"Shit. I have to get back to Hogwarts. The meeting starts at seven pm… time difference and all."

"We can take care of this," said Peter.

"If it would be all right, I would like to see your school," said Caspian.

"Sure." Harry saw the glare Aslan was giving, and quickly matched it. There would be no further discussion.

oOo

Just after seven, the group arrived through the floo into Harry's guest room at Hogwarts. Wasting no time, they quickly navigated the corridors and stairs, to finally arrive at the Room of Requirement. The door was still ajar, and Harry could hear voices from inside.

"Sounds like they're just starting," said Harry, pushing the door open.

As expected, there was indeed a large group gathered, including numerous faces he had not seen before. He was surprised to note several of them were from Slytherin.

"Harry, glad you could make it," Remus greeted.

"Minerva did ask if we could," answered Harry. "Since it's been a few weeks since I have been able to, with well…"

"Don't think about that, Harry," said Travis.

"Right." He took in the large group in front of him, and guessed there to be about 60 people present. Just then, Theo Nott approached him.

"Potter. A word, after the meeting."

"Okay. Glad you came, by the way," said Harry. Theo only nodded and rejoined his house mates. Harry could see that their presence made some of the group uncomfortable, and decided to put a stop to it. "Right then. I'm sorry I've been unable to attend to this group for the past few weeks, but that's neither here nor there," he began. "What counts is that everyone is here for a single reason: to expand on what you are learning in your classes, and be in a better position to defend yourselves against the real threat of Tom Riddle. I include EVERYONE in this statement, and I am glad to see a number of students from Slytherin have chosen to join us. I know it has taken all of you a great amount of courage to do so.

"With that said, I will say this. This group is meant for EVERYONE. If you are not comfortable with that, I don't want you here. That is exactly the kind of attitude we are fighting against, the exclusion of some because it is believed they are not worthy."

The group was silent for nearly a minute, as everyone digested Harry's words. Then, a single student, a seventh year Ravenclaw, shrugged, and walked out.

"Any one else?" Silence. "Great. Let's get on with why we're here, then. What have you been covering these past few weeks?"

"We decided it best to split into groups based on skill," supplied Susan Bones.

"Great, then. Let's do that. I will mingle amongst you along with Travis… Caspian, you can follow with me…"

It was 8:45 when Harry finally called a halt to the session. "All right, everyone. It's nearly curfew," he called out. "I'm very impressed with how everyone's been doing. Let's meet again next week, same time."

"Great that you're back, Harry," said Dennis Creevey as he and his brother passed on their way out of the room.

"I'm not back, exactly," answered Harry.

"So I'm to take that meaning you plan to be back next week?" asked Remus.

"I'd like to," answered Harry. "It felt great to be here, and I mean… as serious as this stuff is, it's somehow different than… what we've been doing in the trunk, or in Narnia."

"Potter…" Theo began, as he approached.

"Theo. I'm really glad you came."

"You have no idea how difficult it is. Malfoy knows, and he… well, he's not making things easy. He's been much worse these last few days."

"His family losing every knut to their name might have something to do with that."

"Oh, he's made that very clear, swearing vengeance by everything holy. Do watch your back, Potter, he's out for blood."

"You're keeping safe, I hope."

"We stick together for the most part," answered Theo, "Professor Slughorn does have a bit of sway on what goes on in the common room; thank Merlin for small miracles that way."

"That's good, I guess. You're keeping an eye out for any other Slytherins that might want to join?" Theo nodded. "Good. I really mean it about house cooperation. We need each other if we're going to survive."

"I would say you have changed, Potter."

"Yeah, a little. But you know I'm right." Theo nodded. "Hogwarts is one of only a few places I truly feel at home. That means I will do what it takes to keep it that way. Even if not everyone likes me. It means making some hard choices, doing what's right. Right now, doing what is right means involving your house, showing the rest of the school you guys aren't a bunch of backstabbing conniving snakes, as too many of my house mates would like to believe. I mean, if Travis here were sorted… I'm sure he would be a Slytherin."

"Thanks, I think," said Travis with a snort. That got a smile out of Theo.

"Boys. It's really best you do get back to your dorm," said Remus, noting the time.

"I will be dropping by Minerva's office before we actually return to the trunk," said Harry. "She did ask us back."

Turning a corner that led to the entrance to the headmistress' office, they ran into the last person Harry wanted to meet at that time.

"Potter!" Draco hissed, instantly producing his wand.

"I don't have time for this, Malfoy," Harry snapped back.

"You… I… you've ruined us, Potter! You will pay for your meddling! SECTUM--"

"EXPELLIARMUS!" Travis snarled, wand levelled at Draco. His wand clattered against the wall. "Dangerous curse, Harry, that would have hurt you badly… DON'T dare move an inch, Malfoy!" He again thrust his wand at the Malfoy heir. "I know EXACTLY what kind of curse you just tried to use."

"And exactly how are you to stop me from doing it again?"

"I daresay, Mr. Malfoy, your days at Hogwarts are at an end." Everyone wheeled to see Minerva step from the spiral staircase leading up to her office.

"His wand, Professor," said Travis, tossing Minerva Malfoy's wand. "I'd bet that's not the first time he's tried to cast it."

"What… what was it he was going to do?" asked Caspian.

"The 'Sectumsempra' curse. It causes wounds that don't easily heal," explained Travis.

"That's no spell I'm aware of," said Minerva, pursing her lips.

"Professor. I think it's time Malfoy enjoyed the hospitality of one of my cells in the trunk. He's demonstrated once and for all he's truly a menace," said Harry. Minerva only nodded at this point.

"Draco, consider yourself indefinitely suspended from Hogwarts."

"Professor, we did want to meet with you…"

"It appears as though you have your hands rather full at the moment. Perhaps we should take this into your library, then, once you have dealt with Mr. Malfoy."

"Sounds like a plan," said Harry, gesturing at Draco with his wand. The boy was instantly bound in magical ropes. "Locomotor Draco!"

Minutes later, the group was back in the trunk. Frank was seated in one of the comfortable chairs, along with Chester, and by the looks of it, they were working on a song. Both looked up as the group stepped away from the teleport pad. "What happened?"

"Just dealing with Malfoy."

"Ugh!" Draco groaned, "Mud bloods AND muggles!"

"Shut up," Harry hissed, as he continued guiding the bound package that was Draco toward the corridor. Just then, Severus stepped into the common room.

"Do tell, what exactly is Mr. Malfoy doing bound in such a manner?" he drawled.

"I'll let Draco explain it to you once we lock him in a cell," answered Harry grimly. "I'm tired of his dragon shit!"

"Professor?! What… what are you doing here?! I thought…" Draco sputtered, turning his head to face Severus.

"I warned you, Mr. Malfoy, choose your battles carefully. We WILL be having a conversation later," the potions master said coldly.

"Maybe afterward Fred and George can use him for their prank experiments," Harry mused as he guided the new prisoner down to the small block of cells.

"What… what is a mud-blood?" asked Caspian.

"It's a racist slur against a witch or wizard whose parents aren't magical," said Travis. "Me, particularly, but you would be considered that, too. Or not… to him, most likely. From what Harry's told me, Malfoy's just a bastard, point blank."

"His father was in the Dark Lord's inner circle," supplied Severus, "until he was arrested in June at the Ministry of Magic."

"That would explain a lot, I guess. Born to a prick, taught to be a prick."

"His father DID plant one of V-v-Voldemort's Horcruxes on my sister in her first year," said Ron, joining the conversation. He stood in the doorway to the dining room, munching on a candy bar. "Never mind all the times he's called Hermione a mud blood."

"I doubt Harry will put up with that here," said Travis. "Man, has he changed the last few days."

"Like the way you changed with… well… you know," Ron pointed out. Travis only nodded. He hadn't thought of it that way. Yet, the two incidents were so different. How could an attack against the Invincible be compared with the attack in London? Harry hadn't lost anyone.

Then again, perhaps he had. Something that perhaps, meant just as much. Harry had seen the Invincible as a safe place. Miraz had stolen that from him. So, yes, perhaps it was EXACTLY as Travis had felt, the night Bill had been taken from him. Safety and security was something Harry treasured as much as Frank.


	12. Consequences

**12: CONSEQUENCES**

It was the afternoon of December 15th. Harry and Frank were cuddled in one of the comfortable chairs in the trunk's common room, watching as Dobby and Winky hung Christmas decorations. Frank and the rest of Deadly Harvest had just wrapped up touring for the year the previous evening, in Honolulu, and so had no interest in doing anything significant. The band had decided to press on with their tour, considering that those dates were on the other side of the world, and hopefully out of the reach of Voldemort and his Death Eaters. So far, that had remained true.

In a chair opposite, Travis and Caspian rested together, content to relax on what was a quiet Saturday afternoon. A crib had been set up directly beside the chair, in which slept Caspian's nephew, whom he had named Rilian(1). The intervening weeks had seen Travis and Caspian grow close, much to the chagrin of a certain lion.

"Checkmate," came Ron's triumphant voice from the corner of the room. He and Edmund had been engaged in an epic chess game that had lasted most of the morning.

"Aaaaaahhh!" Edmund exclaimed. "Just ONCE! Just once…"

"You should know by now mate, he's impossible." Harry grinned.

"Chess… never could get into that," said Frank. "I don't have the patience for it."

"It's all about strategy and so on," said Ron, as he reset the board with a gesture from his wand.

"Yeah, no doubt about that, Ron," said Harry. He thought for a moment. "Guys, I think I will probably bring the Invincible home right after the holidays."

"Are we ready for that?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"There will be a number of Narnians who will follow," said Edmund.

"I know that. And I will make the offer again. Anyone who wants to join us and leave Narnia will be welcome. Aslan is just a big pain in the ass, sticking his oversized nose where it doesn't belong." Just then, Mr. Tumnus appeared on the teleport pad, looking very concerned.

"Harry?"

"What's wrong?"

"Something peculiar is happening with the map," answered the faun.

Less than a minute later, Harry was in the Invincible's control room, observing the map with Mr. Tumnus and Deric. The  
North-western edge appeared to be flickering in and out of focus.

"What is it, Harry?" asked Deric, noting the concerned expression.

"When… when Hogwarts was destroyed… the Marauders Map did the same thing. Deric… go back into the trunk, and get the others. Everyone else, we go to action stations!" Harry directed. As Deric apparated away, an SAU member un-clipped his radio.

"Code nine Invincible, repeat, code nine Invincible, report to action stations." Harry also un-clipped his radio.

"Engineering, control."

"ENGINEERING, GO AHEAD."

"I need as much steam as you can muster, Owen," said Harry. "We may have to make an emergency jump."

"COPY THAT. WHAT'S HAPPENING, SIR?"

"I don't know, I just have a bad feeling about something that's happening with the map," answered Harry. He glanced over at the navigation controls, quickly noting the Invincible still sat about 20 meters above the water. In the intervening weeks, the ship had not moved from her position just off the beach at Cair Paravel.

"Harry? What's going on?" asked Travis, as he and Caspian stepped into the control room.

"We're evacuating," answered Harry, making a snap decision.

"We'll need more wands than this, then," said Travis, and he disapparated away.

"Evacuating? What for?" asked Caspian.

"Look at the map," said Harry, indicating the odd behaviour.

"What would cause that?"

"Destruction of what it represents," answered Harry darkly.

"You mean… Narnia is being… destroyed?!" asked Caspian, alarmed.

"I mean exactly that, at least that's what I can guess. You have seen the map I have of Hogwarts?" Caspian nodded. "When the school was destroyed in my future, my map did the same thing. As though the magic it represented was no longer present."

"But, why?"

"I don't know, Caspian. Right now, we need to get back down on the beach and let everyone else know."

"Will you offer sanctuary to Aslan?" asked Mr. Tumnus.

"As much as I shouldn't, I will," answered Harry. "It's the right thing to do."

"Will we have the room, sir?" asked the SAU member.

"Enough, although it will be a little tight. We can deal with the numbers here."

As they returned to the beach, Harry could not help but notice that the sky was taking on a red appearance, even though it was mid-afternoon. He could feel the air around him seem to crackle slightly, much like the approach of a thunderstorm. Very similar, in fact, to how the Invincible charged her weapon. He hoped and prayed to Merlin his guesses were wrong, but the strange behaviour of the atmosphere seemed to give his theory credit. Worse off, just perhaps, their actions of a few weeks earlier might have contributed.

"Harry? What's going on?" asked Peter, stepping out of the tent.

"The stuff of nightmares," answered Harry, gesturing to the sky. Peter drew a gasp, seeing the ugly sky.

"What is it?"

"We're evacuating. I don't know exactly what this means, but it's nothing good, my instincts assure me of that."

"We… will… are you sure there will be… enough room?"

"It'll be fine, for the time being. I need your help gathering people and bringing them aboard."

"I understand."

"Where's Aslan?"

"Curious, I haven't seen him since last night, Harry."

"And your sisters?"

"Harry?" asked Susan, appearing beside her brother.

"Lucy's inside," said Peter. "How long do we have?"

"I don't know. Could be hours, could be days."

"Harry, WHAT is going on?"

"The end of the world, Su," answered Peter. Susan let out a gasp, covering her mouth in shock. She vanished into the tent.

Within a half hour, groups of people and beast folk were being teleported aboard the Invincible by way of the post on the beach. Harry had already removed the teleport pad from the bunker on the beach, moving it to the control room aboard the Invincible. It was something he had planned to do for some time, and only now was forced to deal with it.

At 3:37 PM exactly, the ground shook violently while several loud bangs echoed across the land. It made many of those gathered on the beach drop to the ground in fear. The shaking lasted for nearly 30 seconds.

In the control room, a large chunk of the map vanished from the table.

"Harry…" Mr. Tumnus gestured to the map.

"Bollocks!" He picked up the radio on the table. "Ground?"

"HARRY?" The radio crackled. "JESUS, THE GROUND JUST SHOOK."

"Hurry it up if you can, we're running out of time."

"YOU'RE TELLIN' ME," came Travis' voice. "YOU SHOULD SEE THE SKY, MAN."

"Sir." The technician gestured to one of the monitors giving a camera view from the flying bridge. The sky was by this point an angry red, with streaks of lightning crackling across it. Even the clouds had a red tinge to them(2).

"ONLY A FEW MORE GROUPS TO GO, HARRY," came Dale's voice.

"Wrap it up," said Harry. "Engineering?"

"ENGINEERING, GO AHEAD."

"How's our steam?"

"A FULL HEAD, SIR, WAITING ON YOUR ORDER."

"Stand by."

"COPY." Just then, Caspian, Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy entered the control room. "You're all aboard, good."

"Only a few more to go," said Edmund.

"So Dale said; is everyone settling in?" asked Harry.

"As best they can. We've gathered the centaurs in the entry hall, since they're too tall to navigate the corridors," said Peter.

"Harry, will having this many people on your ship make it unsafe?" asked Susan.

"No. She's able to adjust her weight, no matter what kind of load. And Peter, get someone to port key the centaurs into the hangar. They'll be more comfortable there, I think."

"We have been placing people there as well," said Susan.

"That's great…"

"Harry…" Mr. Tumnus gestured to the map again, where another chunk had vanished.

"It truly is the end of Narnia, then?" asked Lucy sadly.

"I have no doubts about that now," answered Harry darkly. Just then, Travis and Deric appeared.

"That's it, that's the last of them," Deric announced.

"Good. Prepare to jump the ship."

"Do what?" asked Travis.

"Making ready to jump the ship, aye sir." The programmer at the communications terminal started entering instructions into it. He then spoke into the radio. "Con, rig the ship to jump!" Harry, meanwhile, took a seat at yet another console, labeled 'JUMP COMPUTER'. This one had not been touched up to this point. The others quickly gathered around. Harry took the key from around his neck and inserted it in a lock identical to that on the weaponry terminal. The screen instantly lit up with information.

"Now. I'm only interested in one item on this screen…" He scanned the various indicators on the screen, quickly spotting the item he needed. A simple button labeled 'reverse destination'. He touched the screen, and the information changed. "Destination has been entered into the computer."

"Con, all stations radio readiness for jump." The technician at communications spoke into his radio.

"CON, WEAPS, READY FOR JUMP."

"CON, HANGAR, READY FOR JUMP."

"CON, ORDINANCE, READY FOR JUMP."

"CON, ENGINEERING, READY FOR JUMP. POWER PLANT AT MAXIMUM OUTPUT, CONDITIONS FOR JUMP HAVE BEEN MET, OVER."

"Make us invisible," Harry directed.

"Aye sir," said yet another technician, who had taken position at the defense systems computer.

"Why?" asked Peter.

"Because when we arrive back in my world, we'll be over Little Hangleton, where Voldemort has his headquarters. It will be bad enough with the noise we will make when we appear."

"Right." Peter understood at once.

"You mean, similar to the loud noise we heard when you first arrived in Narnia," said Lucy.

"Yeah, exactly. Not too much we can do, considering the size of the ship. Something this big can't teleport without making that kind of noise."

"Ship has been cloaked, sir."

"Great." Harry pressed another button on the screen, labelled 'INITIATE TELEPORT'. "30 seconds to jump."

"Con, 30 seconds to jump, mark," the technician at communications repeated.

"Will it hurt?" asked Lucy.

"No, Lucy," answered Harry. "It's a little uncomfortable; feels like when you side-apparate."

28 seconds later, the entire ship started to shake as a roar seemed to come from every direction, amplifying rapidly.

"Harry! The map…" Mr. Tumnus began, but could not finish. For everyone on the Invincible, there came a very uncomfortable feeling, like they were being squeezed through a rubber tube. A few were very familiar with the feeling, while most were completely in the dark.

oOo

At exactly 8:40 PM local time, there was a tremendous flash of white light only a few miles from the village of Little Hangleton, England. It was accompanied by a massive CRACK, loud enough to shatter windows for several miles in all directions. That included a certain manor, which was hidden by a Fidelius Charm.

oOo

"Con, all stations report," the technician at communications spoke into his radio.

"CON, ENGINEERING, ALL CLEAR."

"CON, WEAPS, ALL CLEAR."

"CON, ORDINANCE, ALL CLEAR."

"CON, HANGAR, ALL CLEAR, ALTHOUGH A FEW OF OUR VISITORS LOOK A LITTLE SHAKEN UP."

"Well, did it work?" asked Peter.

"Yeah, I think so," answered Harry, glancing at the screen.

"That's an affirmative, sir," said another technician. "We've got synchronization with GPS." He had moved to the table where the map had been. He pressed a series of buttons that had appeared on the glass, and it now displayed a digital map of earth, indicating Invincible's position.

"GPS?" asked Mr. Tumnus.

"Global Positioning System," answered Travis. "I'm guessing the computers can talk to the satellites."

"Yeah," answered the technician. "Even though the world had been wrecked, the satellites still worked."

"Probably best to move the Invincible back to Ontario for now," said Harry, getting up. He quickly drew a line on the map, saying "Navigate!" The map blinked green once.

"What will we do with our refugees?" asked another technician. "There is no way we can keep them all aboard for any length of time."

"I know that," said Harry, as he adjusted the engine telegraph, "and I'm open to suggestions."

"Harry, what about your Room of Requirement? Can it not be set up to house a large group of people?"

"In theory, but that could only be a temporary solution. Not to mention the cost involved. Does anyone have an idea of exactly how many people we're dealing with?"

"My estimates are about five thousand, sir," said the SAU member.

"Great. Okay, the room of requirement can probably work for now."

oOo

After configuring the Room of Requirement to deal with the refugees, the group again retreated to the library to discuss options. They had certainly tossed around the idea of bringing a number of people with them when they left Narnia, but this was above and beyond that. Nearly 5000 people and beast-folk had been displaced suddenly by the destruction of Narnia. Worse off, Harry had a sinking feeling the firing of Invincible's primary weapon may have contributed to that afternoon's apocalyptic result.

"Harry, that's the last of them," Deric announced, as he stepped into the dining room. The group was then having dinner.

"Great. They are being fed and looked after?"

"Dobby has pulled in a bunch of house elves, from where I don't know, but yes, our guests are being well looked after. That's gonna take a bite out of your vault, Harry."

"Not really worried about it, especially if I somehow caused this."

"No," said Travis darkly. "I bet that useless cat did it." Harry only nodded. He hadn't thought much about that. Indeed, Aslan had not been seen since the previous evening.

"You won't be able to keep them here for long, Harry," said Albus.

"I know. If anyone has any suggestions…"

"I can talk to Angela, see what she might suggest," Deric offered. Harry nodded again.

"No reason not to. If the Canadian ministry can help, great." He sat, staring at the half-empty plate in front of him. The simple question that ran through his mind: what now?

* * *

AUTHOR NOTES: (this is something I tend not to do much anymore, I don't think you as the reader need your hand held, right?) Thanks a bunch to **ReflectionsOfReality**, for giving me a few ideas here, and indeed, pointing out there could be severe consequences for Harry's magic intermixing with that of Narnia, and so on. So here we are, with perhaps an extreme case of that.

(1)In canon, this was the name of Caspian's first son. I felt it appropriate to use it here.

(2)If you've played TES Oblivion, you will know exactly of the sky I have just described here.


End file.
